tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88116382978386369192024-03-14T00:56:56.927-04:00B-LoEdSceneAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08125018774502675730noreply@blogger.comBlogger433125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811638297838636919.post-27664706658015245912018-07-03T14:24:00.000-04:002018-07-03T14:24:06.961-04:00The Post Janus Landscape Is Upon Us - Which Side Are You On?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-size: large;">In case you were vacationing in a cave in the tribal region of Waziristan and somehow missed the news, the Janus case was decided predictably by the Supreme Court. Another blow has been struck against organized labor on behalf of corporations and billionaires. As a result of the decision public sector unions have lost the right to collect dues from members. Member must now sign a card expressing their desire to have dues deducted. No big deal you say, who wouldn't sign and pay dues for the protection of a union especially in the era of teacher hating corporate ed reform? </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Now there's a question isn't it? Who exactly would try to dodge out of paying their fare share to enjoy the salary raises like the one we just got for starters? Who are the teachers that would try to take advantage of the situation where it's now technically doable to rake in the job protections, the health and dental benefits and the general peace of mind we enjoy as members of collective bargaining agreements without paying their dues? What kind of cheapskate, penny pinching short sighted shitheads would think that sitting back and refusing to pay dues while everyone around them pays dues is going to be a good move in the long term? We all have a good guess already of who these teachers are based simply on their attitudes about unions and their unwillingness to tip a server. There will be a few you can bank on it. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Big picture though I am hard pressed to imagine how anyone employed as a public school teacher in 2018 can look at the crowd funding of this awful case by entities like the Koch Brothers and the Wal Mart Waltons never mind our own Secretary of Miseducation's Betsy Devos by way of her Mackinac Center and think that these billionaire players are looking out for them by allowing them to ditch out of supporting their union with a few bucks a month. Do you really think these union busting zillionaires are trying to protect you from being bullied by Phil and Becky picking your pocket? Seriously? If you honestly think that I have to conclude you are way too stupid to be a teacher. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">I'll conclude with a cautionary tale from my earliest days teaching in Buffalo. I started at Burgard Vocational in 1988 teaching in an old woodshop in the back hallway of the first floor. A </span><span style="font-size: large;">security guard I'd worked with previously at Ken High</span><span style="font-size: large;"> told me </span><span style="font-size: large;">where the ditto machine was, who ran the coffee club and who all the scabs were. I was then introduced to my mentor/co-teacher who told me what paper to use for plans, when IEP's were due and who all the scabs were. My first free period I went to the faculty room for coffee and they told me some guys cooked pepper and onion sandwiches on Fridays if I wanted one, also who ran the check pool and who the scabs were. Mind you the strike took place in 1976 and this was 12 years later. If you think it's going to be cool and NBD to slide along not paying your dues because Betsy and the Waltons and the Kochs bought a Supreme Court ruling to bust unions you should probably check that impulse. We have a great opportunity now to stand together and stand up against the oligarchs who want us to be paid in firewood and left hooks. If you think your union dues are too high a price to pay for benefits and protections then do right by yourself and the rest of us and go teach somewhere without a union. Let us know how it goes. </span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08125018774502675730noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811638297838636919.post-88570694576190452212017-11-20T10:37:00.000-05:002017-11-20T10:37:44.862-05:00Is Our Children Learning?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-size: large;">Anyone familiar with my situation knows I am pretty much operating out of a Skylab situation nestled away from the diurnal grind in the relative quiet of Amherst. While I remain a Buffalo teacher I teach inside a therapeutic day school operated by New York State Office of Mental Health and CPC that serves Buffalo students and kids from local suburban high schools. My point in all of this is that I am not really up in the so called mix as I was my first 5 years at Burgard and the following 3 at South Park. Yet even from my safe suburban distance I keep hearing the same disheartening drumbeat from my friends and colleagues in the rest of BPS. If I had to put it in a Haiku it would look like this:</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Kids out of control</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Foul mouthed, aggressive and rude</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Boss says it's my fault.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">I'm not much at Haiku but I think this about covers what I am hearing. Granted it's hard to get a real picture of what's going on in the larger setting but my contacts here and there and everywhere all seem to be on the same page. It's as if there's a district wide policy of blaming teachers for discipline problems and admins refusing to issue any kind of meaningful consequences for even the most outrageously disrespectful behavior. A teacher aide friend in a high school tells me he hears more filth and obscenity by 10:00 on a given day than you'd hear in three straight episodes of Deadwood. Another hears kids saying things like "Oh I better sit down before this bitch starts on me with that bullshit..." or "Hey, I gotta piss and you let that motherfucker go ahead of me?" If any of this is brought to the attention of administrators they say things like "These kids are in Special Ed that's what they do..." or "Let me see your plan book, students act up when you fail to engage them..." When I ask second level questions about the whys and wherefores I hear that there's a push to avoid suspension at all cost. ALL COST. And that's fine, I'm all for the restorative justice idea but when there's no justice and no sense of respect being restored we're just making excuses, kicking the can and emboldening kids who are bold enough already. When you refuse to address bad behavior you're asking for more of it and giving permission for it to continue. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Years ago I worked in a Quality School. We were led by the teachings of William Glasser and his Total Quality movement. There were some good principles in play but there were also a lot of ways kids could get between the cracks with phoney apologies and trite shows of acknowledgment that they'd been less than Quality. It seems to this pedagogue that any eduphilosophy is going to have its Achilles Heel and it's the job of those promoting said framework to be honest about that reality and step in when needed. No matter how sound the philosophy is there's no way any kid should be allowed to spew filth and threats at adults and other kids without ending up at a Superintendent's Hearing in City Hall. If I'm reading this all wrong and we're actually in the early stages of a transformational new approach to discipline, one where consequences are so subtly crafted and ingeniously applied to the point that they don't even appear to exist then I'll admit I'm reaching and go about my business. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Sadly though, while talking to a friend in NYC the other day I hear this isn't simply a Buffalo trend. My friend suggests it's more likely a national trend. If this is true then I guess we can stop scratching our heads in wonder when we hear of teacher shortages. It's enough that we're under fire from the ed reform and public ed for profit class, that we're evaluated on meaningless test scores and micro mismanaged by career climbing bug eyed crazies who've fled the classroom for power and prestige, but stir in an endless stream of obscenity, abuse and threats of violence from people we're trying to educate and you've all but guaranteed your teacher shortage. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">If anyone thinks things discipline wise are swell in Buffalo please let me know. I only wrote this in response to what struck me as a pervasive and systemic refusal to address student misbehavior in any fashion that didn't involve blaming teachers for causing it. </span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08125018774502675730noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811638297838636919.post-42962982152186118122017-08-18T15:32:00.002-04:002017-08-18T15:37:43.584-04:00Later, Carl. <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">After all the times I had to blog about this guy I guess it's only fair to have the last word on his pointless and failed tenure as a member of the Buffalo Board of Ed. I searched his name in the upper right corner of this very blog and the results were a stumble down memory alley I'd just as soon forget. Carl trying to ram his handpicked Superintendents into place and failing. Carl's fake black friend "Herman" on Facebook sounding suspiciously like Uncle Ruckus of Boondocks fame. Carl cursing out a reporter and Carl's tropically shirted goon looking like a stray cast member of a community theatre production of South Pacific as he shoulders said reporter out of the way. Carl's friend Sandy Beach lisping about Austin Harrig implying that Paladino's 18 year old opponent in the race for the Park District seat had some kind of masculinity issues. Very classy stuff that, a fat old man in his 60's using his right wing radio mic to ridicule and belittle a teen ager who dared to run for office against his millionaire developer pal. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Who can forget this gem from the Carl email dump unleashed by WNYMedia.net during the ill fated Carl for Gubner run? More class. What's funnier than starving people in a developing country fleeing for their lives from a relief plane bringing them food and medicine? </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">I could go on. Seriously I could... for pages. But really folks who wants to sift through a sewer of such hateful mean spirited garbage. I can't help but think of Al Capone ending up on The Rock because Elliot Ness went through his taxes. Not for bootlegging or bomb throwing or roughing people up and or deep sixing them but for freaking tax evasion. Before anyone calls the Lake Erie Italian Club to report me for besmirching a fellow paisan let me say ethnicity here is merely coincidental. While the obvious ways to get Capone seemed to end up stifled by threats or bribes or a curious lack of evidence in every case, the Feds put their thinking caps on and said forget all that. They went for something just as illegal yet not quite as sexy. Instead they pinched him for not paying the tax man. While the protests that blew up Board meeting after Board meeting centered around the outrageously hateful and racist remarks published in Artvoice, everyone kind of knew the First Amendment would protect Paladino even as a sitting board member from removal. So they got him for violating the rules of Executive Session and sharing confidential details with people who had no business hearing them. A little like bringing in Elliot Ness to rifle through the books and find the smoking tax return that would bring about the check mate and the end game of Carl's disastrous participation in public life.*</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">*In spite of the Enron like decline of Trump's brand and the trickle down effect it's likely to produce in Trump apologists like Carl Paladino, we've all heard that he's ruminating about yet another run at the Governor's office. Being removed from one elected office could actually work to Paladino's advantage in running for a higher office when you consider the angry white demographic whose heartfelt sense of manifest grievance he courts with his talk of coons in the basement and his baseball bat. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">I'm not here to say he's your next Governor as much as I'm saying we best not snooze on this one. If you ever needed an example of addition by subtraction look no further than Carl Paladino's removal from the Buffalo Board of Ed. I'm not shedding any tears about the democratic process being sideswiped by Mary Ellen Elia either. I've seen this sentiment expressed in a few places elsewhere. The guy screwed up, was evaluated by his superior and found to be unfit to complete his elected term. Teachers these days get terminated all the time in the current climate of so called ed reform. Why should he get special treatment because he's Carl and for years Buffalo has excused him with "Oh that's just Carl being Carl." In the great big world it appears that excuse holds no water. Maybe for once Carl being Carl actually had some consequences. Enjoy the victory Buffalo, it's been a long time coming. </span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08125018774502675730noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811638297838636919.post-1433951234435626182017-06-20T22:50:00.000-04:002017-06-20T22:50:01.386-04:00Anybody Betting On This? <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Hell of a time to come outta retirement but I think this issue bears some scrutiny. While I am glad Larry got a ticket to take in the big Paladino hearing I am less than optimistic about the outcome. It's been said elsewhere that state ed commissioners are slow to pull the plug on board members over local disputes, the dynamics of this case are going to diminish those odds from slim to somewhere around infinitesimal. Not because Paladino has the right to spew any kind of bigoted hateful bile he wants -- though some will say he has exactly that right -- but because Mary Ellen Elia and Carl Paladino play for the same team in the larger scheme of things. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Remember, before Elia took her brown parachute from <a href="http://www.tampabay.com/news/education/k12/the-hillsborough-county-school-board-could-act-today-on-elia/2214290">Hillsborough School District in Florida</a> and leaped into the loving arms of Meryl Tisch, she'd been dancing with Bill Gates's millions and toeing the ed reform line with lots of testing and lots of talk about 5% of the teaching force being fired on Gates's say-so. She is no friend of public education and no friend of teachers. In case anyone is suffering from a case of mid June brain flatulence, let me remind you she shares quite a bit of common ground with Carl and Lars Quinn and their unflappable drink fetcher Patti Pierce. Like a lot of my fellows I honestly believe removing Paladino from the board would be an addition by subtraction. But if I were somehow forced to lay money on it I'd have to bet on Carl. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">As local lawyer to the stars and the vexed who are able to pay, Paul Cambria said today, there are many options available to Elia between doing nothing and giving Paladino the hook. When someone of Elia's ilk is forced into a corner as she has been in this situation you can rest assured she's going to choose the path of least resistance. I am thinking she's going to do the Commissioner's version of the Principal "putting a letter in his file." Whatever form the censure takes you can be sure it will be toothless and pointless but somehow will allow her and Paladino's detractors to save face. She can say his behavior didn't meet the threshold for removal but it did warrant a strongly worded letter. Paladino can say "See I toldjas." And everyone else will say "There now he doesn't look so smug. Three or four more of those letter and he'll be out on his ass."</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">In the wacky world the ed reform class has made of public education it's fair to assume expectations on teachers will be unreasonably high while those on reform friendly administrators and foot soldiers like Elia will be virtually non-existent. As Christopher Hitchens an avowed atheist said of his impending death from esophageal cancer, I still don't believe. But I do like surprises. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Surprise us all, Mary Ellen. </span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08125018774502675730noreply@blogger.com38tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811638297838636919.post-50785778976703709812017-03-07T11:00:00.002-05:002017-03-07T11:06:57.305-05:00It's the Stupid, Stupid. <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-size: large;">A Facebook friend posted a pic of Jeff Sessions on or about the day we learned Sessions used some alternative truths in his confirmation questioning -- remember the part where he forgot to tell everyone he was just kidding when he insisted he hadn't met with any Russians during the campaign? In the comments below I think I called Sessions a redneck pile of shit. Said FB friend saw me my remark and raised me with his own equally blunt assessment of the guy who was too racist to be a judge in the 80's but just racist enough to be Attorney General in the current clowncar known as the Presidential Cabinet. Truth be told I've never even met the friend in question. We share a fondness for left leaning policies and their practitioners, food, Key West and mountain bikes among other things. I also have reason to believe he is a retired or possibly still working teacher and Buffalonian. But you know how these things go on social media. Friends of friends are close enough so you kind of roll together. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Out of the clear Blue or maybe I should say the Red sky comes Eugenia T. GreatAgain, who must be a friend of my friend as I know nothing of her. She names us both and points out that "not all of us are rednecks you know, we just want what's best for our country. And you both need to be careful, you're coming pretty close to being racist" My usual response to an unknown collective "us" is You got a mouse in your pocket? But in this case I suggested she might want to recede to her safe space before she melts in the face of all this meanness. She then shoots back that I must have anti-social behaviors, a word she's doubtless gleaned from countless hours of staring slackjawed at Dr, Phil and Oprah. Usually I opt for the block option at this point as I don't know this person nor do I care to and I guess it's considered bad form to flay unknown friends of friends on their walls. Instead I offered this summary of the situation:"I posted a comment about a politician which you internalized and took to be about you. Then you proceeded to tell me I was flirting with racism." I saw later that she'd responded again but instead of reading it I went to Wally Cox for the block. If you're old you get that. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">I guess the point is friends there's a lot of stupid out there. The fact that I am calling a southern politician with a questionable at best history of race relations a redneck strikes me as an in house remark. I am white. He is white. I cracked him for being the kind of white guy that makes being a white guy a shitty thing. A white lady jumps into the fray after deciding I was talking about her when I called Jeff Sessions a redneck telling me I'm flirting with racism. A white guy cracking another white guy being told by a white woman that he's as good as racist makes about as much sense as Kelly Ann Conway on her best day. Which isn't saying much of course. And just off the top of my head I have to ask what exactly does a fellow middle class white person see in legislation that encourages mining companies to unload all manner of toxins into waterways near mines that would approximate "what's best for our country?" Likewise, if we stick to the water theme, how does this fine middle class white lady consider removing funding that goes toward protecting the Great Lakes as anything close to "What's best for our country?" I'm sure she's ok with spending billions we don't have on a wall we don't need while kids in Flint are guzzling lead in their tap water too. But I have to ask At what point is this "what's best for our country?" </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Those of us who waited in the rain for hours to hear Bernie Sanders speak saw how he was marginalized by the machinations of DNC insiders. We were told to give Hillary our vote and giver her a chance. And when that didn't work we watched as a crude, ignorant bully and bigot was sworn in a #45. Give him a chance we were told again. Since he's been President #45 has played golf in Florida, what? every weekend? He's continued to shoot his mouth off on twitter and elsewhere and shows no signs of any Saul like conversion on the roads to Damascus or Mara Lago. The only conclusion I can reach as a resident of this planet for 55 years now and a public school teacher for 29 of them is that we're being asked to keep giving stupid a chance. Stupid, friends, is not working. It hasn't worked, it isn't working and it won't work. We need to say no to stupid a dozen times a day if that's what it takes. Just say no to stupid. </span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08125018774502675730noreply@blogger.com955tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811638297838636919.post-77770597923293470662017-02-23T11:16:00.002-05:002017-02-23T18:20:52.594-05:00Secretary of Education: A Fine Tradition of Dunces<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">In Arne Duncan the Obama administration had a useful idiot who'd drive the corporate reform agenda and keep the POTUS sharp on the basketball court. Apparently Arne had played semi-pro, off Broadway basketball in the Tenerife' intramural leagues at some point but settled for handing out test packets to America with the help of his Bachelor's degree in Sociology. Arne for the record had never spent a minute teaching in a classroom anywhere. In November of 2013 Arne put his semi-pro sized Chuck Taylor in his mouth and pissed off the<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2013/11/16/arne-duncan-white-surburban-moms-upset-that-common-core-shows-their-kids-arent-brilliant/?utm_term=.fd1a03d212ab"> White Suburban Mom </a> population suggesting that her kid wasn't as smart as she thinks he is. What's more is he was touting Common Core in the process. Here's Arne: saying pushback against CCSS is coming from...“white suburban moms who — all of a sudden — their child isn’t as brilliant as they thought they were, and their school isn’t quite as good as they thought they were.” His actual quote is dizzying in its arrogance and nastiness. I wonder if he thought because he was addressing state school superintendents that nobody would know he said it or was he really so clueless and bereft of judgment that he didn't think it was an objectionable remark? The world will never know but my guess is yes to both queries. Up until then Arne had made the usual amount of gaffes on smaller levels but the "WSM" bombshell as it became known on Facebook was a Waterloo moment in Arne's career as the face of American corporate ed reform. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Meanwhile, a month before Arne's White Suburban Mom Massacre, we here in the Empire State had our own little Arne, aka Lil John King who was melting down bigly <a href="http://b-loedscene.blogspot.com/2013/10/lil-john-king-gets-standardized-testy.html">on stage in Spackenkill NY </a>. King and his handlers -- Dowager Empress Tisch and Regentus Flatulentus Bob Bennett -- went there to shut parents and teachers up on the topic of high stakes testing. I'm not always one to click the links and watch the videos but if you click one link today click this one where the little weasel monopolizes the forum and refuses to let anyone else speak then lies about the use of high stakes tests in his own kids' Montessori school. He also declares his own kids off limits for discussion not realizing that sending his own kids to a private school where none of this ridiculous testing occurs might appear hypocritical to parents whose own kids are throwing up and crying from test anxiety. While people in the video clip are telling him to sit down and shut up and that he's already had his turn King drones on mercilessly. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">I'd never lined up the timelines of these two failures and their downward trajectories before but it makes perfect sense that Arne was flaming out in D.C. while King tried to take his standardized tests and go home in a snit. He actually cancelled the rest of his Shut Up and Take the Test Tour or tried to after being thoroughly pantsed by the people he'd been appointed to do right by. But Andrew Cuomo and his corporate ed campaign donors were not hearing it. Lil John was taken out to the woodshed by Tisch and told to get out there and stand up to those bullies. Can't you just hear her saying I aint raising no punks? Remember now this is a guy who once told an audience he'd sooner eat an undercooked steak and quaff a glass of stale wine than tell the waiter he had a problem with his meal. John King wouldn't, as the saying goes say shit if he had a mouthful, yet here he was trying to fight parents and getting his ass whooped in public. Imagine the angst. You can see why he chooses to take his lumps when you what a terrible fighter he is. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">It wasn't long before someone found a youth basketball league for Arne to ref or a sneaker company to shill for and Obama sent him back to Chicago with a nice size 12 Jordan print on his ass. About the same time Andrew Cuomo had supped full of horrors on John King's tragic performance as the head of NYSED and was looking to bundle him up for a draft pick and a box of tape. Remember too that King lacked the teaching experience and the credentials needed for the NYSED gig but friendly pols and hacks ignored the regs and handed him the job qualified no but politically wired yes. Why you may wonder am I wasting a 60 degree morning in February in Buffalo NY rehashing the last two stooges to hold the title Secretary of Education? Fair enough. While we're outraged and disgusted that a dilettante know nothing like Betsy Devos has been allowed to buy a cabinet seat in the #45 cavalcade of 1%ers, I have to ask how different this is than Penny Pritzker of Hyatt Hotel fortune and Chicago pal of Obama being installed as Secretary of Commerce? Her own workers despised her and she treated them like shit. We've seen this game before is my point. And if an unqualified dope is being seated in the Department of Education we can safely say she's just the third stooge in a succession of friends and family hiring to take the seat. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Betsy's debut as we've seen has been a disaster. She was repelled from the back door of a school by a total of about 3 protestors and has since been armored with US Marshals. Nothing says approachable and in your corner like a US Marshal on either shoulder and that moron Randi Weingarten posing for selfies as she trails along in your wake. Devos, as noted previously, tried a funny on twitter and got flamed by teachers and parents. Then she accused teachers of standing around waiting to be told what to do and was roasted by the very teachers she'd observed when they finally found an unguarded door to slide her in. My friend Burkie in high school knew all the untended doors at the Aud which was handy for sneaking into Van Halen shows and Sabres games. I wonder if Betsy has a guy like that on staff? So the pushback on Betsy Devos in week one has been devastating. She appears flustered and clueless like a lot of what's coming out of the White House. Rumor is she made a feeble attempt to stick up for transgendered kids as #45 rolled back Obama's protections for them. But soon enough she was bullied by the boys and remembered her place as a girl with a checkbook in their big manly world and she caved in. If there's anything I'm finding a little strength and hope in it's this piece by <a href="http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/education_law/2017/02/have-those-who-support-education-already-won-in-the-betsy-devos-confirmation-fight.html">Derek Black </a>that Norm had on his blog a few weeks ago where he offers some calming thoughts: </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><i><b>The skeptic might say, yeah, but if she wins, she has power and can do what she wants. Fortunately, that is just not true. As a reaction to Secretary Duncan's overreach with No Child Left Behind waivers, the Every Student Succeeds Act severely restricted the powers of the Secretary. As I explain here, the Act shifted an enormous amount of power and discretion back to the states, reducing the Secretary to a paper-pusher. </b></i> </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Maybe we can thanks Stooge 1 for his over reach and Stooge 2 for going away and leaving New York to fend for itself. If Betsy's little more than a paper pusher for the next 4 years she may just learn something about making bad investments. </span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08125018774502675730noreply@blogger.com35tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811638297838636919.post-82055581958076587132017-02-18T14:37:00.002-05:002017-02-18T14:38:23.885-05:00Betsy and Randi and Bears Oh My!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Betsy and BodyGuard Flee Three Protestors, US Marshals Brought In</td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Betsy Blackwater tried to slither into a D.C. school through a back door and was turned away by a crowd of about 5 protestors and several reporters trotting alongside her in case she said something stupid enough to merit jotting down. Instead she was hustled back to her black Suburban with a look of constipated angst furrowed into her brow. She's now being protected by U.S. Marshals in case another retired teacher or angry parent drops a "Shame!" chant on her or stretches their arms across a doorway to block her.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">After taking a lame stab at humor -- Where can I find the pencils? hee hee hee --and being twitter roasted 50 ways from recess, she's come out with her first impressions of the teaching profession and trust me you will not be surprised. "Teachers," it seems to the billionheiress by injection of the Amway fortune, "are waiting to be told what to do." Here's the entire quote in her own imbecilic words: </span><br />
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">“They’re waiting to be told what they have to do, and that’s not going to bring success to an individual child,” DeVos told a columnist for the conservative online publication Townhall. “You have to have teachers who are empowered to facilitate great teaching.”</span></b><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Mmmm, yeauuuuh. An incredibly bizarre take on the profession coming from someone who's never practiced it, has no background in it nor in its administration and has never allowed any of her own precious spawn to be exposed to the professionals who've dedicated their lives and careers to it. Teachers do their jobs and teach. If they wait to be told anything it's to divine the latest nonsensical gotchas contained in the latest round of arbitrary and capricious directives from the whatever reformy top down bureaucrats hold sway over their district and/or state ed departments. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">How many data points do I need to include in my SLO's this time? How many artifacts do I need to unearth from the bottom of my coffee saturated messenger bag and by what measure do I bet against myself to move students from arbitrary point A to capricious point D in whichever unrealistic interval of time I am allowed with kids who don't come to school, come to school and sleep or come to school 4 levels below their grade level? Yeah Bets, if you think you caught a whiff of teachers waiting on something, trust me they're not waiting on you to come rolling in on your white horse of the edupocalypse anointing us with vouchers and your wealthy white privileged version of the Jayzus, no, far from it. The only thing teachers have learned over the past, what? 10 years? is what exactly are the arbitrary and capricious gotchas du jour by which teachers will be attacked and declared unfit to practice their profession? THAT'S the ONLY time I see teachers WAITING for anything Besty. They find out what hoops they're forced to jump through to keep their jobs then they do it and return to teaching kids. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Of course she managed to toss in a couple of edu buzzwords to try and make herself sound credible. "Empowered" "Great Teaching" Too bad she couldn't have handled Al Franken's simple question about her position on the Growth vs Proficiency debate. It would've earned her some of the cred she's trying to find on Ebay and in ed reformer crib notes. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">To be fair Devos didn't have to visit a school to make the comment she made. <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/education/wp/2017/02/18/devos-criticized-teachers-at-d-c-school-she-visited-and-they-are-not-having-it/?utm_term=.9a652ff4d18e">Based on the reports from teachers who described her visit to the school</a> -- they did eventually find an unguarded side door to sneak her into -- the teaching Devos witnessed had nothing to do with her statement. She's just trying to lay down her opening line of rhetoric upon which she will complain that unions are interfering with great teaching and labor contracts are too restrictive to allow great teaching. Surely this will be followed up with plans to offer vouchers to schools who aren't bound by unions and contracts. We'd all be disappointed too if at some point she didn't decide that these contract and union bound schools were receiving far more in federal funds than they truly deserve. We've seen it already. We know it better than she does. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">If there's any one party running loose on the public ed scene who needs to simply STFU and GTFO it's this dipshit who completely mischaracterized what transpired and in typical slimeball fashion is already trying to suck up to the reformers:</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Just heard a protester blocked & almost knocked Secy @BetsyDeVos down at Jefferson.We don't condone such acts.We want her to go to pub schls</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">— Randi Weingarten (@rweingarten) February 10, 2017</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">No. We Don't Want That. And you heard wrong Randi. Nobody came anywhere near her. Get your facts straight before you shoot your mouth off. Better yet get your facts straight then shut it. Your remarks can only make things worse for teachers. Collect your hefty paycheck and go back to rescuing the Nigerian school girls or trying to attack the Nurse's Union for daring to support Bernie Sanders. Yours is the last voice we want to hear in any discussion of public education. Your eruptions only serve to remind us that we need to dismantle and retool teacher unions as badly as we need the same with Democrats if we're ever going to support them again in anything. </span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08125018774502675730noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811638297838636919.post-40311091840206113782017-02-12T20:46:00.004-05:002017-02-12T20:46:50.310-05:00Steven Singer Bids Adieu to Flotsam and Jetsam<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">I cut and pasted this from <a href="http://linkis.com/wordpress.com/lMC3a">Steven Singer's blog. </a></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">I couldn't agree more. Time to say bye bye.</span></div>
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<h1 class="entry-title" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 0.67em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Dear Randi Weingarten and Lily Eskelsen Garcia:</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Unions are facing hard times.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">We are under attack by the new fascist wing of the Republican party.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">So-called “right to work” laws are being drafted at the national level to strip us of our rights and transform us into the factory slaves of The Gilded Age. New court challenges at the state and federal level could make it next to impossible to collect dues without allowing countless free riders. And in the mass media criticism of teacher tenure is mounting despite widespread ignorance of what it even means.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">More than ever we need to be united in our efforts to fight the forces of regression and tyranny. We need each other to protect our public schools and our students from those who would do them harm. But the biggest obstacle to doing that isn’t Donald Trump. Nor is it Mike Pence, Steve Bannon or even Betsy DeVos.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">It is you. Both of you.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Frankly, as Presidents of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and the National Education Association (NEA), you have become a distraction.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">When DeVos was blocked by protesters from entering a Washington, D.C., school this week, Randi actually took her side. She tweeted:</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">“Just heard a protester blocked & almost knocked Secy @BetsyDeVos down at Jefferson.We don’t condone such acts.We want her to go to pub schls.”</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">How dare you dictate to protesters what “we” want!?</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">This action may not have been something you, personally, condone. But DeVos just got away with purchasing her position as U.S. Secretary of Education. She and her billionaire family paid off mostly Republican lawmakers to the tune of $200 million allowing her to become the titular head of our nation’s public schools. This despite having never attended a public school, refusing to protect special education students, refusing to hold charter and voucher schools to the same standards, even refusing to keep guns out of our children’s classrooms! Well, Betsy, your money may buy you the title, but it buys you zero respect!</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Randi, your statement just goes to show how tone deaf you and Lily are to the spirit of the rank and file.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">We are not somewhat distressed at what is happening to our schools and our profession. We are enraged! We are taking to the streets! We are occupying our lawmakers offices and marching through community thoroughfares! And we aren’t throwing shade on other protesters behind the safety of Twitter.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">For many of us, you both represent everything wrong with unionism. We are a people powered movement. We get our strength from the grassroots up, but you both try to rule from the top down.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Nowhere was this more apparent than in the early endorsements by both unions of Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Neither one of you made an honest effort to gauge member opinions on these endorsements before going ahead. You thought you knew better. You pushed through these endorsements despite a strong vein of support for Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Sanders was much more in-line with our needs and values. And he had much more support among progressives and independents. He had a much better chance of winning! Meanwhile, Clinton was just another neoliberal in a long line of neoliberals like President Barack Obama who would offer us only the back of their hands.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">You wanted a seat at the table, and you didn’t mind how much it would cost the rest of us.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Lily, when you took the reins of the NEA in 2014, you famously said “We are what Democracy looks like.” I was never more proud of my union than at that moment. But that pride has turned to ashes in my mouth.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Many of us will never forgive either of you for the results of this election. We blame you for Trump.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Had you not dictated to us that we must support Clinton, had you supported a candidate with a real chance of wining, there is little doubt that we could have defeated the clown currently in the Oval Office. Moreover, under a President Sanders we would have had a real chance at a progressive future that benefits everyone – $15 minimum wage, universal healthcare, sanctuary cities, justice reforms, fair trade, free college tuition.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Trump did not win alone. Unwittingly, you were his biggest supporters. It was your hubris – along with that of corporate Democrats deaf to the voices of their base – that gave us these next four years. And none of you have learned your lesson.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Lily, your three-year term is up this year. Randi, your two-year term is up in summer 2018.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">We can wait you out if we must. But do what’s best for the people you claim to represent. Step down now.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Otherwise, you can look for opposition in our Representative Assemblies.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Let me be clear. I don’t think either of you have broken any by-laws. I don’t think there is evidence for impeachment (if our by-laws even allow it). But members could easily make a motion from the floor for a vote of no confidence.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Support may already be mounting for such positions at the Region level. It could go to the State House of Delegates as a New Business Item and get a majority vote from the floor. Or perhaps at our next Representative Assembly, someone will just make a motion.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">I don’t know if it would pass. But I know that this division among us is holding us back from being the force we can be. I know that it has stopped many of us from talking about how we fight external forces, because we are instead focused on enemies from within.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">We want to transform our unions. We no longer want to focus solely on collective bargaining. We want to focus on social justice and the needs of our students and communities. To be sure, our labor rights are essential to this fight, but they cannot be everything nor can we be willing to give up on the needs of our students if the powers that be will only leave our salaries and benefits intact.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">We want a union that is more at home in the streets than in the boardroom. We want leaders who mobilize us to fight not tell us what to think. We need leaders that listen to us – not the other way around.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">As a classroom teacher and education activist, I make this request in no official capacity for any of the various groups to which I belong. I ask as merely another member of the NEA. I have no affiliation with the AFT.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Moreover, I have nothing personal against either of you. We met briefly at the Network for Public Education conference in Chicago two years ago. You were both congenial and inspiring. It may not seem like it now, but I hold tremendous respect for both of you. I think in your own ways you have accomplished much that benefits our members.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">But the time has come to step down. You believe in accountability. Hold yourselves accountable.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Put the strength of our unions first. Let it no longer be about you. Let it be about us.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Here’s hoping you’ll do the right thing.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Yours,</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Steven Singer</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">NEA and PSEA member</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">P.S. – If any NEA or AFT member reads this open letter and agrees with the sentiments expressed here, please add your name and union affiliation in a comment on my blog.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Share this:</span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08125018774502675730noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811638297838636919.post-65931161494725978912017-02-11T21:58:00.002-05:002017-02-11T21:58:20.954-05:00Betsy Devos Gets the Bum's Rush<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/6IKmMqA5kOA" width="480"></iframe><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">If you haven't seen this yet and I doubt you haven't it's worth another look.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Betsy Devos tried to sneak in the back door of a school in Washington D.C. and was headed off by what looks like about 5 protestors. The crowd was reported to be made up of retired teachers and parents. What's great about this is that none of these people had a voice as Devos smirked and played stupid cat and mouse games with Tim Kaine as he pressed her to answer a question about funding and disabled students. Nobody was able to yell Are you fucking kidding me?! as Devos tried to bullshit Al Franken about where she stood on the debate of proficiency vs growth. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">It was painfully clear she had no idea what he was talking about yet she tried to play the glib bullshitter the way the guy who appointed her did yesterday with no translating earpiece nodding and pretending to understand Japanese. Nobody got to stand up blasting an air horn and slapping a pair of pimp shades on Elizabeth Warren as she pantsed Devos on her complete lack of anything resembling experience running a student loan department. The GOP Senators pretended not to notice how obscenely incompetent and unqualified she came across and they were voting for her if she walked out in a grizzly bear costume firing a potato gun. They really didn't care what she said or how stupid she looked. The deal was done. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">When the people are kept out of the government and billionaires are able to buy their way into it there is going to be some shit. This door blockade is only the first of what promises to be a withering and relentless storm of blowback from the disenfranchised, the pissed off and the tired of standing by and being bent over by billionaires. I don't think Betsy is going to be much of a quick learner either. A day after she'd been chased away from the back door and ushered past an array of dumpsters she hops on twitter trying to be funny asking where she can find the pencils. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">The results were hilariously predictable:</span><br />
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<a class="twitter-atreply dir-ltr" data-mentioned-user-id="599530439" data-screenname="BetsyDeVos" dir="ltr" href="https://mobile.twitter.com/BetsyDeVos" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #2477b3; direction: ltr; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; unicode-bidi: embed; vertical-align: baseline;">@BetsyDeVos</a> I don't know, maybe go to a public school and get one?</div>
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<a class="" href="https://mobile.twitter.com/AlumniUSC/status/829487712646279170?p=v#" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #999999; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">4:30 PM - 8 Feb 2017</a></div>
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<tr class="tweet-header " style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><td class="avatar" rowspan="3" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(232, 232, 232); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 6px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 12px; vertical-align: top; width: 60px;"><a href="https://mobile.twitter.com/DaveStylee?p=i" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #2477b3; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="Easy D" src="https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/826169766666604544/ck3oQ_W3_normal.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 12px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 48px;" /></a></td><td class="user-info" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0.375em; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0.625em; vertical-align: top;"><a href="https://mobile.twitter.com/DaveStylee?p=s" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #2477b3; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong class="fullname" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #333333; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 700; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0.5em; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: nowrap;">Easy D</strong></a><br />
<div class="username" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #999999; direction: ltr; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0.5em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; unicode-bidi: embed; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: normal;">
<a href="https://mobile.twitter.com/DaveStylee?p=s" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #2477b3; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; color: #cccccc; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">@</span>DaveStylee</a></div>
</td><td class="timestamp" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #999999; font-size: 0.75em; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0.75em; padding-top: 0.625em; text-align: right; vertical-align: top; white-space: nowrap; width: 45px;"><a href="https://mobile.twitter.com/DaveStylee/status/829487728051957761?p=p" name="tweet_829487728051957761" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #999999; font-size: 11px; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Feb 8</a></td></tr>
<tr class="tweet-container" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><td class="tweet-content" colspan="2" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: top;"><div class="tweet-text" data-id="829487728051957761" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0.5em; margin-right: 0.5em; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;">
<div class="dir-ltr" dir="ltr" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; direction: ltr; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; unicode-bidi: embed; vertical-align: baseline;">
<a class="twitter-atreply dir-ltr" data-mentioned-user-id="599530439" data-screenname="BetsyDeVos" dir="ltr" href="https://mobile.twitter.com/BetsyDeVos" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #2477b3; direction: ltr; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; unicode-bidi: embed; vertical-align: baseline;">@BetsyDeVos</a> Why don't you buy some pencils like you bought off your confirmation?</div>
</div>
</td></tr>
<tr style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><td class="meta-and-actions" colspan="2" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(232, 232, 232); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0.75em; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0.25em; vertical-align: top;"><span class="metadata" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; color: #999999; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0.6em; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://mobile.twitter.com/DaveStylee/status/829487728051957761?p=v" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #2477b3; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">View conversation</a> <span class="middot" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0.1875em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">·</span> </span><span class="tweet-actions" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0.1875em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"><a class="first" href="https://mobile.twitter.com/DaveStylee/reply/829487728051957761?p=r" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #2477b3; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0.1875em; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="imgsprite_tweet_reply_gif" style="background-image: url(https://ma.twimg.com/twitter-mobile/59751a85d0ad0e63ffd3efa2b379414fd78c53da/images/sprite.png); background-position: 0px -1463px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; display: inline-block; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 14px;" title="Reply"></span></a></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px;"><table class="tweet " href="/NastyWoman20/status/829487662595665920?p=v" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; background-color: whitesmoke; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; table-layout: fixed; vertical-align: baseline; width: 520px;"><tbody style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<tr class="tweet-header " style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><td class="user-info" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0.375em; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0.625em; vertical-align: top;"><a href="https://mobile.twitter.com/NastyWoman20?p=s" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #2477b3; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong class="fullname" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #333333; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 700; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0.5em; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: nowrap;">Nasty Woman</strong></a><br />
<div class="username" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #999999; direction: ltr; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0.5em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; unicode-bidi: embed; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: normal;">
<a href="https://mobile.twitter.com/NastyWoman20?p=s" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #2477b3; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; color: #cccccc; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">@</span>NastyWoman20</a></div>
</td><td class="timestamp" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #999999; font-size: 0.75em; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0.75em; padding-top: 0.625em; text-align: right; vertical-align: top; white-space: nowrap; width: 45px;"><a href="https://mobile.twitter.com/NastyWoman20/status/829487662595665920?p=p" name="tweet_829487662595665920" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #999999; font-size: 11px; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Feb 8</a></td></tr>
<tr class="tweet-container" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><td class="tweet-content" colspan="2" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: top;"><div class="tweet-text" data-id="829487662595665920" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0.5em; margin-right: 0.5em; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;">
<div class="dir-ltr" dir="ltr" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; direction: ltr; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; unicode-bidi: embed; vertical-align: baseline;">
<a class="twitter-atreply dir-ltr" data-mentioned-user-id="599530439" data-screenname="BetsyDeVos" dir="ltr" href="https://mobile.twitter.com/BetsyDeVos" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #2477b3; direction: ltr; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; unicode-bidi: embed; vertical-align: baseline;">@BetsyDeVos</a> probably next to your bible and cross. Let's make America dumb and religious again right?</div>
</div>
</td></tr>
<tr style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><td class="meta-and-actions" colspan="2" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(232, 232, 232); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0.75em; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0.25em; vertical-align: top;"><span class="metadata" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; color: #999999; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0.6em; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://mobile.twitter.com/NastyWoman20/status/829487662595665920?p=v" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #2477b3; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">View conversation</a> <span class="middot" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0.1875em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">·</span> </span><span class="tweet-actions" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0.1875em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"><a class="first" href="https://mobile.twitter.com/NastyWoman20/reply/829487662595665920?p=r" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #2477b3; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0.1875em; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="imgsprite_tweet_reply_gif" style="background-image: url(https://ma.twimg.com/twitter-mobile/59751a85d0ad0e63ffd3efa2b379414fd78c53da/images/sprite.png); background-position: 0px -1463px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; display: inline-block; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 14px;" title="Reply"></span> </a><a href="https://mobile.twitter.com/statuses/829487662595665920/retweet?p=t" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #2477b3; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0.1875em; padding-right: 0.1875em; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; 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<table class="tweet " href="/tk421421421/status/829489603027595271?p=v" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; background-color: whitesmoke; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; table-layout: fixed; vertical-align: baseline; width: 520px;"><tbody style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<tr class="tweet-header " style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><td class="avatar" rowspan="3" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(232, 232, 232); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 6px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 12px; vertical-align: top; width: 60px;"><a href="https://mobile.twitter.com/tk421421421?p=i" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #2477b3; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="Regulos McScribbles" src="https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/826220831831363585/mH29tjKk_normal.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 12px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 48px;" /></a></td><td class="user-info" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0.375em; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0.625em; vertical-align: top;"><a href="https://mobile.twitter.com/tk421421421?p=s" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #2477b3; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong class="fullname" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #333333; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 700; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0.5em; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: nowrap;">Regulos McScribbles</strong></a><br />
<div class="username" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #999999; direction: ltr; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0.5em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; unicode-bidi: embed; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: normal;">
<a href="https://mobile.twitter.com/tk421421421?p=s" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #2477b3; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; color: #cccccc; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">@</span>tk421421421</a></div>
</td><td class="timestamp" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #999999; font-size: 0.75em; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0.75em; padding-top: 0.625em; text-align: right; vertical-align: top; white-space: nowrap; width: 45px;"><a href="https://mobile.twitter.com/tk421421421/status/829489603027595271?p=p" name="tweet_829489603027595271" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #999999; font-size: 11px; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Feb 8</a></td></tr>
<tr class="tweet-container" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><td class="tweet-content" colspan="2" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: top;"><div class="tweet-text" data-id="829489603027595271" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0.5em; margin-right: 0.5em; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;">
<div class="dir-ltr" dir="ltr" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; direction: ltr; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; unicode-bidi: embed; vertical-align: baseline;">
<a class="twitter-atreply dir-ltr" data-mentioned-user-id="788178216955498496" data-screenname="AnnGables3" dir="ltr" href="https://mobile.twitter.com/AnnGables3" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #2477b3; direction: ltr; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; unicode-bidi: embed; vertical-align: baseline;">@AnnGables3</a> <a class="twitter-atreply dir-ltr" data-mentioned-user-id="716106058989580288" data-screenname="NastyWoman20" dir="ltr" href="https://mobile.twitter.com/NastyWoman20" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #2477b3; direction: ltr; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; unicode-bidi: embed; vertical-align: baseline;">@NastyWoman20</a> <a class="twitter-atreply dir-ltr" data-mentioned-user-id="599530439" data-screenname="BetsyDeVos" dir="ltr" href="https://mobile.twitter.com/BetsyDeVos" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #2477b3; direction: ltr; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; unicode-bidi: embed; vertical-align: baseline;">@BetsyDeVos</a> thank you for siding with corrupt billionaires over America's children. Stay classy.</div>
</div>
</td></tr>
<tr style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><td class="meta-and-actions" colspan="2" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(232, 232, 232); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0.75em; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0.25em; vertical-align: top;"><span class="metadata" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; color: #999999; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0.6em; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://mobile.twitter.com/tk421421421/status/829489603027595271?p=v" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #2477b3; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">View conversation</a> <span class="middot" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0.1875em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">·</span> </span><span class="tweet-actions" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0.1875em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"><a class="first" href="https://mobile.twitter.com/tk421421421/reply/829489603027595271?p=r" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #2477b3; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0.1875em; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="imgsprite_tweet_reply_gif" style="background-image: url(https://ma.twimg.com/twitter-mobile/59751a85d0ad0e63ffd3efa2b379414fd78c53da/images/sprite.png); background-position: 0px -1463px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; display: inline-block; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; height: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 14px;" title="Reply"></span></a><br /></span></td></tr>
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</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 17px;"><table class="tweet " href="/NastyWoman20/status/829487662595665920?p=v" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; background-color: whitesmoke; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; table-layout: fixed; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline; width: 520px;"><tbody style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<tr style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><td class="meta-and-actions" colspan="2" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(232, 232, 232); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0.75em; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0.25em; vertical-align: top;"><span class="tweet-actions" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0.1875em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span class="tweet-actions" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0.1875em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span class="tweet-actions" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0.1875em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span class="tweet-actions" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0.1875em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">What's great about Betsy's rough start is it reminds me of another incompetent hand picked hack who ended up pissing Andrew Cuomo off so badly that he traded him to Washington DC for a box of copying paper and some white out. She will be terrible and I expect she will handle pressure and criticism terribly. The last we can do is keep her in the spotlight. As teachers we comfort the afflicted. In this case we also need to afflict the comfortable. </span></span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08125018774502675730noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811638297838636919.post-25060082644372097842016-12-30T11:51:00.002-05:002016-12-30T12:16:35.159-05:00Buffalo Board of Ed Whiffs on Their Resolution<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-size: large;">It's good to see the Board of Ed in B-Lo making an effort to confront Carl Paladino on his most recent sampling of racist hate spew. In theory they are forcing the moment to its crisis as Eliot might've said. But are they? I've noted elsewhere that board member Hope Jay's career trajectory reminds me of another lawyer who happens to be a woman who did time on the board en route a judgeship. Credit to Jay for crafting the whereases and the wherefores of the document. I question the endgame of said missive though as the ultimatum to Carl to get outta town before sundown is offset with a wimpy threat to involve NYSED Commissioner Elia should sundown come and go and Carl remain in his seat petulant and politically incorrect as ever. In the classroom and in parenting 101 class we call this giving away your authority. You've heard the rookie parents and teachers telling rambunctious kiddies they'd better behave or (the Principal, Grandpa, Uncle Sean) is going to be mad at them. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">If I needed any more evidence in the year 2016 that the end is nigh I guess I found it in the Buffalo News this morning when I found myself agreeing in principle and fact with none other than former Buffalo Board of Ed member and freewheeling CEO of Gateway Longview, Mr. Diamond Jim Sampson. Of all people I guess I never figured Sampson to be the one who'd cut through the obfuscation and self congratulatory back patting of Hope Jay's twitter account to spell out where this proposition goes off the rails like one of those slow motion door opening farts. Here's the gilded one speaking truth to good intentions:</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">"I appreciate that the criterion for removal is very narrow, however, I believe that to remove an elected school board member, overturning an election, it should be done by the Board of Education, providing for transparent, open hearings and ensuring due process," said former School Board President James Sampson. "The Board of Education should not defer to the Commissioner who is far removed from our community and whose decision is essentially made behind closed doors. It is messy but the right thing to do. "</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">It is messy but it's the right thing to do. Amen to that James Sampson. Surely you recall Carl turning on Sampson calling him spineless and a raccoon or some such Carlesque thing and insisting that dear friend Lars Quinn be installed as Board President upon Sampson's execution or waterboarding or whatever extreme measure Paladino had in store for him. But when you read what Sampson said it's clear he's not playing tit for tat the way Carl and his mentor like to do. What Sampson is saying is that the board needs to own this decision and to act as the agent of its execution. The problem with the Jay letter is that it whips everyone into a frenzy of imminent action then subcontracts that action to a third party whose loyalties in matters of education lie much closer to Carl Paladino's than to The Board of Regents, NYSUT or the Buffalo Board of Education.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">In subcontracting the hit, if you will, to Mary Ellen Elia the Buffalo Board of Education has abdicated its role in pursuing the removal of Carl Paladino and opened up any number of kinder gentler options to a mercenary of ed reform's revolving door of interchangeable fixers. I am seeing some kind of mandated sensitivity training, an in-service or two and the usual circle jerk of self improvement pamphlets and faux contrition we see from professional athletes, celebrities and politicians when they get it caught in the pickle cutter but nobody has the nerve to sack them. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Attorney Hope Jay tells the News she doesn't think the Board has the authority to remove a member but the news contacts three other lawyers who say the Board does in fact have the juice to pull the plug on Carl. This leaves us with two possible scenarios: Hope Jay isn't the sharpest lawyer in the tool shed for not knowing this. Or she did know it but didn't want to deal with the icky and brutal process of taking on a swamp dweller with the resources and temperament of Sir Carl. And as if 2016 hasn't been surreal enough, let me end by wholeheartedly agreeing with Carl Paladino himself when he tells the News “The Board of Education’s action today is certainly not an illustration of a profile in courage or leadership.” Even a blind gorilla finds a banana once in a while. </span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08125018774502675730noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811638297838636919.post-31336256061092936852016-12-26T13:10:00.002-05:002016-12-26T13:31:40.023-05:00Be Careful What We Wish For? <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">With all due cynicism I expect the worst of the ruckus has passed for Carl Paladino in regard to his most recent ejaculation of unfunny racist hate spew. Sure some people were offended and proclamations were read. Phonecalls were made and answered. Hands were wrung and fists shaken but in the end guess what folks? Carl can wish the President of the United States an undignified death caused by bovine bestiality and he can call the guy's wife a gorilla too. He can further take a swipe at the transgendered community implying the the First Lady is really a man in drag and when anyone asks if he's for real he can sit back and say Go fuck yourselves. He just did. Frankly friends I am here to say he's going to get away with it the same as he has every other fucking time he's done it. Or are we so daft in our naive teacher's view of the world that we honestly believe Mary Ellen Elia the Commissioner of New York State Education is going to wade into this swamp, drain it and emerge with Carl slung over her shoulder scarf like Troy Landry or Willie Edwards from down Pierre Part Louisiana way? </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Don't hold your breath. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">The deep dark irony here friends is no matter what anybody says about Carl the Churl's latest outburst, a sickening majority of the prominent people up in arms agree wholeheartedly with Paladino's desires to dismantle public education and hand the whole thing over to corporate privatizers who will put profits ahead of proficiency. At the top of this list is Barack Obama his own self. Once upon a time the nation celebrated a quaint little thing called "Teacher Appreciation Week" the final week of April. Every year since Obama has been in office he's rebranded this same week "National Charter Schools Week." A nervy and unsubtle <b>fuck you</b> to public schools and their teachers as well as the Stockholm Syndrome afflicted union leaders who insist on throwing cash and endorsements at people like Obama and his Democrats. Carl Paladino collects huge sums of money renting properties to charters. He bought the Holy Angels property to turn that into a charter with one of his pals. Obama's Race to the Top made life even easier for charters and attempted to turn public schools against each other in a feeding frenzy for cash and perks in roughly the same manner used car managers will tack a $50 up as a spiff for the next guy who gets the sale. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">It's kind of hilarious to me how Carl doesn't see Obama as a brother in ed reform when you look at the way their sensibilities line up on this topic. Likewise with Andrew Cuomo, Cory Booker and Sam Radford III of DPCC. While Cuomo and Booker felt the need to speak out, Sam borrows a page from fellow ed reformer Larry Quinn in refusing to step up and throw a stone at Paladino. Instead of blasting Paladino full force Sam chose instead to quietly retweet a Cory Booker offering and another from CNN that briefly discusses Carl's latest step in manure. You see, even in a transformational moment like this where CNN and the New York Times are asking Buffalo how a guy like this can sit on our school board we still see prominent players like Quinn and Sam Radford hedging their bets. Carl Paladino just called the POTUS a cowardly cow fucker and his wife a cross dressing gorilla yet Sam and Lars are going to withhold comment. Likewise with gaseous old ex Regent Bob Bennett whose craven declaration that it would be inappropriate to say anything at this time is straight from the book of chickenshit un-speak. Larry Quinn is another one of these limo liberals who likes to remind everyone he's a Democrat as if that confers some kind of country gentleman duck hunter and wood splitter status on his pasty privileged existence. Sam Radford III Posed for a pic with Mr. Obama on at least one occasion when their ed reform streams met. Yet where's the condemnation Sam? Where's the outrage? Crickets. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">I hate to be the greybeard in sandals and a "Don't Blame Me I Wrote in Bernie" t-shirt but sometimes you have to own what you stand for and who you really are. Fact is these people calling for Carl's resignation must know deep down the guy lacks the shame/guilt gear necessary for such a come to Jayzus moment. Carl was Catholic enough to father a child out of wedlock and keep it a secret for years but not Catholic enough to muster a Pope Francis moment of clarity that questions his own past practices in any meaningful way. So resignation is out. What about the bylaws? Isn't there something in there about the good of students and the duties of a school board member? If there is why hasn't it been used already? The NYSED Commissioner option as noted above is laughable. Mary Ellen Elia, like Obama, Cuomo, Booker and Sam has much more in common with Carl and the corporate privatization movement's vision of education policy than with any Buffalo Public School student she's charged to protect from an angry aged venom spitting adder like Paladino who happens to occupy a seat on the school board. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">The common thread here that binds Paladino, DFER, Elia, Sam, Booker and the President is money. Corporate billions have wormed their way into education and we now await the installation of a billionheiress by marriage who's never attended a public school or sent any of her kids to one as the Secretary of Education. Betsy Devos has dedicated her spare time to defunding public education, de-regulating charters and redirecting education funds away from public ed and into unregulated charters. In case you missed it she also thinks the Jayzus sits on her shoulder to cheer all of her efforts. If you've been in a cave or coma for the past 60 days I'm here to tell you Paladino and Donald Trump are pals. If you believe what they say on rightie radio here in Buffalo the two talk at least once a week. And if Paladino is going to resign his school board seat it will only be because Trump's offered him a chance to do damage on a greater scale in his Education Department. This is just my own personal suspicion, I'll admit it. Paladino reminds me of that certain student we've all experienced whose idea of the last day of school is not one of a fond farewell as much as it's his last chance to take a final swipe at the adults who've put up with his nonsense for a year. I see this latest outburst as Carl jumping out the back door of the cheese bus on the last day of school yelling "kiss my ass you can't do nothing to me!" Of course I could be wrong and the latest expression of racist hatred may be just more of that swell Buffalo codependence people here have come to call <a href="http://b-loedscene.blogspot.com/2015/05/just-when-you-thought-it-was-safe-for.html">"Carl Being Carl."</a> Carl Paladino may be heading for greater things or he may just be staying put and continuing to spit bile. We might be careful for we wish for. </span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08125018774502675730noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811638297838636919.post-74476268447653806812016-11-16T22:28:00.001-05:002016-11-16T22:39:15.097-05:00Attention Teachers: Winter Is Coming. But We're from Buffalo<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Is anyone else thinking this is a real good time to get the so called national union leadership together and start working on a plan to deal with the next incarnation of the Friedrichs case? Not that I have one on my calendar or anything but do you really think the people that brought the last one along as far as they did have decided teacher's unions are simply too clever and well funded to be outmaneuvered? If Randi and Lily have sobered up from their Hillary binge yet I wonder who has the wherewithal to point them in the direction of being good scouts and getting prepared? Can Mikey Mulgrew do that for us? Can anyone? Do they do requests? It didn't impress me last time that either Randi or Lily had a fuck's clue what to do about the Supreme Court doing to public education what Citizens United did to campaign finance. Come to think of it the way they flung our endorsements at such a toxic and divisive candidate with little to no rank and file say so kind of showed me they don't have a fuck's clue about very much at all outside of their own little spheres of power. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Fact is pedagogues we simply cannot afford to stand by and allow these 2 politicized insiders to keep picking losers with our money and our livelihood on the line. Did you read the email to Podesta where Weingarten called a nurse's union high and mighty and accused them of sanctimonious conduct? What did they do to earn such disdain from their fellow unionite? Oh they endorsed Bernie Sanders instead of Hillary for which Weingarten flexed her muscles and postured " We will go after them <a href="http://www.nationalnursesunited.org/">(NNU)</a>. Just for kicks go take a look at their website. Then look at the <a href="http://www.aft.org/">AFT</a> website and ask yourself who do you think are the cool kids and who are the weenies? Hint: the cool kids have zero pics of Randi Weingarten on theirs. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">About now whom you voted for and/or why you did as you did is pretty much last year's lesson plan book. You can relive the magic and recapture the rapture as they say in 12 step land or you can look ahead and get real about what we're in for. I will say -- and feel free to disagree here -- that I have less than zero tolerance for the gloom and doomers who seem to find some perverse thrill in spreading the message of hopelessness and despair about the coming months and years. Those faculty room shit fairies who find their G-Spot by trying to ruin everyone else's day with their dreary assed words of woe. We're screwed. We're effed. This is the worst of all possible worlds. Well thanks Scheissgloss but if you're done with your personal Orson Wells broadcast some of us have 10 or 20 years to go in this game and we are going to have to close ranks and get our collective act together in a hurry. The nattering nabobs of edu-negativity need not apply. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">I trust you've seen NYSED just did exactly what we knew they were going to do. They pretended to ask some questions then pretended to care about the answers they got. Then announced they were going to do exactly as they fucking well have been and thanks for playing, saps! It's the same game as when they sent Lil John King out with Regentus Flatulentus Bennet and Dowager Empress Tisch to barnstorm the small folk in their wee burgs and hamlets. They even had the olympian sized metric balls to call it a "listening tour." And after a couple of nights of plugging their ears a la Pee Wee Herman saying I can't Heeeeaaaarrrrr youuuu! they finally got run in Poughkeepsie by pissed off parents and teachers who simply refused to give them any quarter. Remember King trying to shush the mob and being told to shut up and sit down? It was Theatre of the Nectarous. The degree of butthurt was so bad that Lil John King the current lame duck/pet lamb of D.C. cancelled the rest of the stops or tried to until Cuomo and Tisch took him out back of the woodshed and smacked the goatee off of him. Well the Q. and A. about high stakes testing and the "Listening Tour" put on by Kinger, Bennett and Tischy are isotopes of the same horseshit. We know the games NYSED plays and we've been able to play ours pretty damned effectively when you consider the funding and connections they have and we don't. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">I don't want to be Bluto giving the Deltas that famous speech about not giving up when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor but if nobody else has it in them I will. There's talk of a Michelle Rhee Secretary of Education. There's more talk of Eva (Destruction) Moskowitz being installed. I thought I heard Ivanka had first dibs on the job unless maybe she's poised to make more selling her 60 Minutes appearance jewelry on E-bay than setting policy. Fact is this will not be a time for the faint or heart or the wobbly of spine. If the Buffalo News calls you to ask what you think about Phil Rumore's future please remind them they have worked against us at every turn and slanted their coverage to present BTF members and Phil in the worst possible light. Please tell them you have nothing to say to them and if they want to know about Phil's future plans maybe they should buy him a really expensive dinner and ask him their own damn selves. It's time to close ranks and demonstrate solidarity as a profession and a union. The people looking to end public education as we know it are certainly stepping up their game. We can do no less. </span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08125018774502675730noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811638297838636919.post-60525353319253931092016-11-06T00:21:00.000-04:002016-11-06T00:52:00.341-04:00Let's Hope This "Nice Guy" Finishes Last<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">If you're not already voting for Amber you will be after this...</span></td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">I keep hearing what a nice guy Chris Jacobs is. Oh it's a shame this campaign has gone negative, Chris Jacobs is such a nice guy... Well you know he's pretty popular in WNY, after all he's such a nice guy. The fact that his family has more money than god yet insisted on subsidies from the gubmint before they'd build their monstrosity HQ downtown with non union tradesmen notwithstanding, gosh darn it that Chris Jacobs is such a nice guy... Ninjas please.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">I've never met the dude personally so I can only go on my observations of Chris Jacobs when he served as a member of the Board of Education in Buffalo. I often wondered how such a nice guy as Chris Jacobs was able to befriend an odious figure like James Williams whose legacy of bluster, bullshit and arrogance will likely stand until the next millenia as the worst Superintendent B-lo has ever hired. The alleged friendship between Jacbos and Williams was something of a standing joke among B-Lo's more streetwise eduplayers who saw it more as a case of the kitty trying to hang with the cat. It was rumored Jacobs picked up the tab on the many occasions the two were spotted strapping on the feedbag at the Chop House. Rumored yes but judging by the way the "friendship" played out on the public stage it wasn't hard to imagine Jacbos whipping out his Am Ex card saying you just get the tip ok, James? Omar Little of The Wire sagely advises us "The game is out there and it's play or get played." James Williams played with the best of them and Chris Jacobs, hapless sod that he is couldn't help but get played.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Remember the Jacobs moment when Chris's bestie was caught trying to sneak out of town and land the Memphis Superintendent's gig without ever mentioning it to his BFF? </span><br />
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<i><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">...Williams is a serial job-jump applicant, who has secretly applied or interviewed for jobs in Atlanta, Dallas, Hartford, Durham, and Memphis, startling his board each time, both in Dayton and Buffalo. “I was surprised and shocked he would even consider leaving at such a critical time,” a somewhat naïve-sounding Chris Jacobs told the Buffalo News. “I feel like I was kicked in the stomach.”</span></b></i><br />
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<i><b>You were, Chris. Jacobs and board member Florence Johnson have been Williams’ strongest defenders. Jacobs even publicly lied for Williams, holding a news conference in May to insist Williams never suggested in executive session that McKinley High School volunteer basketball coach Michelle Stiles was a lesbian, only to have Williams later admit to special investigator David Edmunds that, in fact, he had... <a href="http://artvoice.com/issues/v7n22/james_williams_pt2.html"> from Artvoice</a></b></i></span><br />
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A "somewhat naive sounding Chris Jacobs" he's called. That was more than kind. He lied for the dude and JW coudn't even bother to clue his homie in that he was looking to break camp and bounce. Let's just stick with "naive" then as it's a lot kinder than calling our nice guy a dumbass. If Chris was only naive about his "friendship" with Jaws we could write it off to any number of things. But do you remember when Chris Jacobs got out his little notebook and drew up a plan to relocate the Police and Fire Departments and the string of blue chip non-profit service groups along Delaware Ave into quarters at The Broadway Market? I'd almost forgot about this but that's why blogging makes you smart, you find shit you weren't even smart enough to look for. Now remember Chris is a guy who loves the charter schools and the privatization movement and pretty much anyone with a snazzy zipcode and serious bank. You can't miss it when you read his urban planning manifesto. The following was a piece by Stephanie Perry published in<a href="http://blogs.artvoice.com/avdaily/2014/10/07/picking-ones-battles-part-2-the-jacobs-plan/"> Artvoice in 2014:</a></span><br />
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<i><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Private developers would make a killing on these new apartments and condos and return a bit under $800,000 annually to the city and county tax bases so that the city and county might provide services to the public, such as centrally located and publicly accessible police and fire departments, except not that anymore. Never mind that the city budget alone totals $1.4 billion. This is a plan to help the community help rich people help the community.</span></b></i><br />
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<i><b>It would be nearly impossible to propose a more transparently self-serving plan to redistribute real property wealth to developers while simultaneously displacing organizations that have tirelessly served the community and maintained the architectural heritage of the Delaware District for decades. Plus, the short-sighted proposal is stock full of faulty assumptions about urban planning, crime and private property rights. Furthermore, the author’s inappropriate use of first-person perspective, sentence fragments and the conspicuous absence of facts together evoked the tone of a hastily composed high school civics project. I wondered who produced such an implausible, socially irresponsible and poorly written report. Was this the homework of some Rich Kid of Instagram?</b></i></span><br />
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In a textbook example of the sheltered rich guy issuing his world view it's clear that the proles and plebians best hope is to stand clear while their social superiors decide their fate. Jacobs’s list of nonprofits ripe for relocation is glaringly classist in its aims. The awesome mansions occupied by various non profits along Delaware would be vacated for the good of the ruling class who really never should have allowed them to fall into unclean hands in the first place. Chris Jacobs doesn't think groups like The Red Cross, United Way, International Institute, Child and Family Services, Salvation Army, EPIC and the Catholic Center belong in mansions on Delware. Their clientele are kind of icky. On the other hand though, non-taxed entities with very fine real estate are omitted from his plan: Nardin Academy, Canisius High School, the Ronald McDonald House, the Jacobs Executive Development Center, Gilda’s Club, the County Clerk’s Office itself. Downtown, Elmwood and the Medical Corridor are too nice for poor people, according to Jacobs’s vision. This is your "nice guy's" idea of an urban plan. Still think he's swell?</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">And if Chris Jacobs getting played by James Williams then cooking up a redesign for Buffalo that would have Thorstein Veblen and F. Scott Fitzgerald both spinning in their graves, there's more where that came from folks. Consider Chris Jacobs' campaign promise to sail into Albany for his first term and convince the entrenched nest of vipers, thieves and cutthroats to go along with him on setting term limits that would put them all off the gravy train in the time it takes Bills fans to end up in a video on Deadspin Sunday morning. Hey welcome to Albany Chris Jacobs, your uncle is the 185th richest guy on earth and you want to impose term limits on the rest of us? Sure. Say, Chris, we're taking some guys out on a snipe hunt, do you have your hood and your net with you...?</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">If you care about public education you need to vote for Amber Small. While speaking at BTF's Council of Delegates meeting last month she said she thought teachers should be better paid and public education should be better funded. Small spoke of losing her mother at an early age and being driven to school events and activities in high school by her teachers. It was clear Amber Small has experienced first hand the positive effects of dedicated and caring teachers in her life. She is a friend of teachers and of public schools. We couldn't ask for a better ally in Albany.</span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08125018774502675730noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811638297838636919.post-52751387693915161222016-10-19T22:39:00.001-04:002016-10-19T22:39:33.705-04:00Do Both Sides Feel Like They Got Screwed?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">If you aren't happy with the new contract I think it's safe to say most of us get your point. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">If you whipped out your calculator at Kleinhans and did some nifty figuring then planted yourself in front of a mic to castigate Phil Rumore I think it's safe to say most of us get your point. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">If you don't like the language of the extra 25 minutes and you happen to work for one of our more famous control freak narcissist Principals who will monopolize the 25 minutes and force you into grieving it -- if your faculty isn't too scared of him to do so -- safe to say most us get your point. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">And if you are angry that you didn't get your steps back it's safe to say most of us get your point. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">To a point. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">It occurs to me that an alarming number of teachers didn't seem to realize the step recovery case went to court and the court ruled against us. Phil Rumore is not known for losing in court. This one didn't go his way or our way. We lost. It happens. It happens so rarely I have to wonder if that's why we seem to have so many colleagues living in a state of denial believing if they pound their podium hard enough the steps will materialize out of the ether. To show up at Kleinhans on a night when it's been all but guaranteed we are there to vote on a contract and throw a tantrum about steps we've known for a long time we weren't going to get is ridiculous. Sorry, I didn't get mine either but I kind of knew that. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">I learned how our national union affiliates operate during the 2016 presidential campaign. It was decided a long time ago that NEA and AFT were both going to endorse Hillary Clinton. The only question was how to manipulate the votes and skew the assembled souls to get the numbers they needed to create the illusion that union people supported Clinton. I see a small handful of default Johnny Come Lately Hillary shills among the teacher ranks mostly because the alternative amounts to electing a human tire fire. There never was any fire for Hillary and truth be told there still isn't. The union power brokers felt no Bern. The candidate most of my teacher friends and acquaintances supported was never given a thought. They went out of their way to outmaneuver a contingent of Bernie supporters in their crusade to anoint HRC. You can read about it in Podesta's emails and those of that bald faced rank and file betrayer Randi Weingarten. I must have been naive at the time but I was infuriated that the rank and file were excluded from the process. And now that some of these same rank and filers are feeling screwed, disenfranchised and kept at arm's length from the workings of their union I have to ask in all honesty Why did you expect anything else? Weren't you paying attention to the way Hillary got those endorsements? </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Before I get too carried away on this theme though I think anyone who has an axe to grind with BTF, NYSUT and their various players needs give some thought to last May's Board of Education election that essentially gift wrapped a contract for Buffalo teachers. If you think the current Board majority simply fell down out of the sky because the 9% of Buffalo who vote in Board elections suddenly realized they'd had enough of Jay McCarthy and Jim Sampson, you need to look a little closer. For all of my grumbling and bitching about NYSUT and their inscrutable ways I am here to give the devil his Deely. They said they were going to use an organizational strategy to bring out the voters we'd need to vote in our people and vote out the Friends of Carl and Lars. It involved banging on doors and talking to people. Certain people. You can't argue with the results. It worked. Scoreboard. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">While there was more to the strategy I can only say for sure that I know that their guys got the boot and our guys (gals?) took their seats on the Board. Sampson and McCarthy almost failed to make it onto the ballot if you recall. They limped into the election bruised and battered -- a day late and a dollar short. And all of the drinks Carl bought at Docs were barely enough for him to squeak out a win over a teen ager still in high school. Think that happened in a vacuum? Like it or not, agree with NYSUT or not, if we didn't have a board to vote yes on that deal we'd be talking about 13 years. And if not for the efforts of this non representative, top down, undemocratic union affiliate there'd be no talk of what bonus we were getting or how we're going to use those 25 minutes. We'd be reading about the cosmetic rider in the Buffalo News and listening to Larry Quinn complain that teachers injured by students are taking too long to return to work. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Like the contract I'm sure this post isn't perfect. It's an attempt to take a fair long view through my Step 27 eyes that should have picked up a few things by now. We got something. Be nice if we got more but we got a step in the right direction. The fact that the Board's two union hating millionaires pouted and went home in protest tells me we made out even if it could've been and should've been better. If you're still pissed off run for delegate. If you're really pissed run for Executive Committee. I did. </span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08125018774502675730noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811638297838636919.post-53685696100573956362016-10-16T20:09:00.003-04:002016-10-16T20:15:21.738-04:00A Strangely Selective Poverty in BPS<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Remember when the former Board Majority -- who? -- voted to fire Rashondra M. Martin as General Counsel and bring in Edward A. Betz to replace her? Yeah you know, the guy who managed Larry Quinn's campaign when Lars ran for the Board of Education. He's also the guy fresh outta law school who was appointed as a "receiver" by disgraced State Supreme Court Judge John Michalek at the prodding of disgraced political bagman Steve Pidgeon who then turned around and demanded a $5000 baksheesh from Barrister Betz. <i>Michalek admitted in court that the attorney Pigeon advocated for was a recent law school graduate who had not been approved by the state courts as a qualified receiver. Nonetheless, Michalek gave him the assignment. Lacking experience and required credentials as Betz was, Michalek told Pidgeon : “We pushed it through anyway … have to give them a spec reason etc. … will figure it out … John,” Michalek emailed to Pigeon in May 2012</i>. (Bflo News) </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">In the end, Ms. Martin, who was hired by then-Superintendent Pamela C. Brown, was fired effective immediately and Cash was given the green light to negotiate a contract with Betz to take over the position at an annual salary of $160,000, which is $33,000 more than Martin was making. For those of you scoring at home, that's African American female fired by 5 white Board members 4 of them males and a politically well connected white green horn hired and handed a raise of $33,000.00 simply for showing up. I don't want to get too far off on a tangent with the racial breakdowns here but it's a bit puzzling that the African American Superintendent was in such a hurry to tuck an extra $33,000.00 into the shirt pocket of an inexperienced white guy hired to replace an experienced black female. Can you say the Good Old Boy Network is alive and well as long as you are a boy not a girl? I wonder too if this is why Board member Patti Pierce inexplicably asked if men and women were paid differently...Based on what she's seen around City Hall I can see why she'd be asking. Add to this the outrageous 4% ($11,000 or so minimum) pay bump tucked inside Kriner Cash's shirt pocket after one year and virtually nothing to brag about accomplishment wise. Consider the revelation that minority female Board members gave Cash much lower scores in private than what they'd admit to publicly and you have another case of an anti-meritocracy seemingly flinging significant amounts of cash at people who've done nothing to deserve a dime of it -- then turning their empty pockets out and making a sad clown face when it's time to pay teachers. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Behold the flaccid rhetoric from certain "stakeholders" about teachers needing to increase test scores and get every B-Lo kid into the Ivy Leagues before they'll ever be worthy of a pay raise and you've got enough public hypocrisy and good old fashioned political bullshit to gag an ox. Eddie Betz Esq. gets $33K for being the right guy with the right friends and Kriner Cash gets a 4% raise after ONE YEAR when he's already <a href="http://buffalonews.com/2015/08/24/cash-gets-big-salary-but-performance-expectations-not-set/">the highest paid urban Superintendent in New York State.</a> Allow me to digress... When Kriner Cash was foisted on the Board by his old Ed Reform cronie Mary Ellen Elia, the minority women, the majority men and Patti Pierce all thought Dr Cash'd be swell. It was unanimous though I think Carl might have been tea partying in Paris for the vote but he was with his brothers and sisters in spirit since his attempts to run Mr. Weimer and Dr. Eberle up the middle had both been stuffed at the goal line. The magnanimity and largesse of such bon vivants as Buffalo Sabre deconstructionist Lars Quinn and Diamond Jim Sampson Presiding CEO of scandalous Gateway Longview State Audit notoriety flung an extra $60 thousand at Kriner Cash pushing his salary to $275. Former Superintendent Pamela Brown was only offered $217 but as we've seen she was just a girl so that's the way things go. Ogie Oglive was only supposed to hang around long enough to rubber stamp the rough shoddery of Carl, Lars and Diamond Jim so he got what the girl got but nothing more. Good call by the boys too cause Ogie ended up crawfishing on them. He had some wacky notion of autonomy or integrity or some such fluff they teach these saps who go to school for Education. Wise of the boys to keep his salary low since he ended up reneging on the deal they thought they'd struck when they hired him. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">If you don't see a pattern here you probably think Donald Trump respects women and Hillary is going to crack down on the House of Saud too. I see men getting unmerited pay raises when they take on jobs formerly held by women. But I guess on an up note we could say there's a tinge of color blindness in the feckless generosity of City Hallers shoving thousands of dollars in each other's pockets. In spite of many claims that Buffalo is a segregated and racist little place Kriner Cash's salary increases seemed to be A-Ok with everyone on the Board of Education. Ebony and Ivory and perfect harmony all up in here. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">If you're waiting for the punchline, as well you should be, it's this: I've heard Board members fretting about bankrupting the city and saying teachers aren't doing a very good job so why should they get a raise? Please remember the way guys like Cash and Betz were showered with benefits completely out of proportion to their contribution to children's education simply for showing up with a pulse at the interview. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Then ask yourselves how is it we are able to open up the vault and toss stacks at these guys simply for being marked "Present" yet we cry poverty when it comes time to ante up and pay the people </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">who get MF'd by teen angry agers, who buy boots and hats and notebooks for little kids, </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">who bust their asses every day in a siege environment in some buildings,</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">who correctly pronounce the names of and celebrate the lives of the child refugees of the global village </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">and quietly teach hungry overtired and angry disadvantaged kids every damned with half the materials they really need.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Remember who's doing the exhausting and endless work of teaching all of Buffalo's kids before you use words like "Bankrupt the City" and "Need to Improve before they deserve a raise..."</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08125018774502675730noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811638297838636919.post-88152143845187932092016-10-15T10:54:00.001-04:002016-10-15T11:02:35.071-04:00Nobody Asked Me Up til Now<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">The other night before the Council of Delegates meeting Executive Committee members gathered toward the front table to run through a few last minute endorsements. The guy running against Ranzenhofer, Brian Higgins and someone else whose name I can't recall were unanimously agreed upon. When the Presidential ticket came up I waited my turn and voted a loud nasal Nae to the surprise of nobody who's heard one thing I've said or written since this freakshow of a campaign rolled out from under whatever rock it was hatched beneath. I did note a raised eyebrow or two and one member asked me to explain in private why I voted that way, solidarity during contract talks being paramount and all.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Truth is I've been saying it since Bernie Sanders threw his hat into the ring and up until now nobody affiliated with union leadership has ever asked me what I thought. So I guess I voted against Randi Weingarten and Lily Eskelson's Machiavellian machinations as much as I voted against the beneficiary of their skullduggery. I did not vote in favor of a tax deadbeat who thinks he can grab women's crotches. Nor did I vote for a Mexican subsidized wall, charter schools, Common Core and more tax breaks for people who need them least.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">I voted for Bernie Sanders.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Sadly, the only way the current system allows for a guy like me to vote for the guy I drove to Cleveland to see on a school night with my wife and kids and the guy I stood outside of Alumni Arena in the rain for nearly 3 hours with my family and our dear friend Julie -- I repeat the only way this system allows me to vote for the guy I believed in and still believe in -- is to vote nae in an Executive Committee endorsement less than a month away from election night. If anyone's concerned about me disrupting solidarity you can rest easy since Phil Rumore his own self laughed and said something to the effect of I know why you did that. To which I said I did it for Bernie and Phil answered Aren't you glad he ran? I am but I only wish he'd have had at least a fighting chance. If you haven't seen the wikki dump emails illustrating NEA President Lily and AFT President Weingarten treating all of us as dummies to be out maneuvered I suggest you google them and see for yourself. I believe my local is working hard and looking out to get us a fair contract. I only wish I could say the same for the national affiliates. Start here on <a href="http://ednotesonline.blogspot.com/2016/10/president-of-seiu-local-73-seiu.html">Norm's blog </a> to see how unions were punished for endorsing Bernie and how Weingarten said she was going after NNU a nurse's union that actually believes in democracy for endorsing Bernie. If you're not pissed off I really can't help you. If your biggest professional concern is a lack of paper towels in the faculty lounge you are making it verrry easy for the Randis and Lilys to screw you over before you even know what hit you. Read the link above to Norm's blog and get a look at who doesn't give a shit what you think. Hint, it's not David Coleman this time.</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08125018774502675730noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811638297838636919.post-45669578076228433512016-10-05T21:31:00.001-04:002016-10-05T21:31:22.684-04:00Keep Your Friends Close and Your Friends Who Aren't Really Your Friends Closer. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br />
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Sometimes the sheer volume of bullshit is enough to jostle a bloggist out of semi-retirement. I am not saying this is one of those times. But in the inimitable words of Preet Bharra. Stay Tuned. </span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">“It’s a fair proposal because what the district is attempting to do is to provide the teachers with excellent compensation for the hard work they do without bankrupting the district, because there’s a really delicate balance,” Hope Jay said. “The teachers need to be fairly compensated, but we can’t bankrupt the district because it’ll hurt the children.</span></i></b></div><br /><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Anyone else not buying this for one second? </span><br /><br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08125018774502675730noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811638297838636919.post-18685643245496923632016-08-07T22:51:00.001-04:002016-08-07T22:52:47.372-04:00No Time Like the Present<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">It's time for a new adventure. I flipped a coin between this clip and one of Forrest Gump announcing his long run was over. Hard to go against Peter Jackson. Until we meet again.</span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08125018774502675730noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811638297838636919.post-2717357342691230332016-07-16T23:45:00.000-04:002016-07-16T23:58:02.874-04:00Can We Just Cut the B.S. and Drop the Charges, for Starters? <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">So two of five Riverside teachers who were put on leave last June have had their charges thrown out and are now cleared to return to work. Three teachers remain on leave and charged with insubordination. BPS Superintendent Kriner Cash believes they should all be terminated because they were told what to do but they didn't do it. Ironically and hypocritically at the same time Cash says they should have followed yet another folksy maxim he pulled out of thin air that says "work now, grieve later."</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Well maybe "work now grieve later" is a good rule of thumb in a sane world and a reasonable working climate, say Bethlehem Steel's coke ovens in the 1970's. Even in some very specific educational situations it might even hold water. When the admins deliberately flooded our 15:1 Special Ed cluster in the late 80's and early 90's until we had close to 20 kids in some of them --all with significant learning and behavior issues mind you-- a simpatico A.P. advised us off the record that City Hall said overload them and let them grieve it, there won't be any new classes opening to accommodate these kids. When there's nothing you can do and an admin is at least forthright enough to tell you it's out of his hands you pretty much have to teach now and grieve for another day.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">But Kriner Cash knows better than anyone that this Riverside debacle is no simple overage claim. Overages disregard the student's I.E.P.'s and are essentially illegal but they happen when someone decides they aren't willing to spend the money to follow the law. NYSED doesn't get involved. Teachers are mollified some years down the road when their grievance results in a check that calculates a certain figure based on the number of kids in the class and the teacher's salary. It actually pays better if you have 6 kids in your class and barely pays if you have 15. So I know. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Teachers at Riverside were essentially put on administrative leave for refusing to break State Ed Department Law. Nowhere down the line were they in a position to benefit from either correcting against the law or following the law and not correcting. There was no financial or professional incentive either way but a funereal disincentive for either option. Kriner Cash, coming from the belly of the high stakes testing and ed reform beast as he does, is part of the entrenched faction who seeks to both sanctify and weaponize these kinds of tests. On one hand he treats them like the Dead Sea Scrolls with all of the attendant deference while seeking to use them as proof of teacher malfeasance should they come back with less than gritty and excellent scores. Bad scores mean teaching firings after all in the great ed reform manifesto. Cash and his ed reform enabler from Florida, State Ed Commissioner Mary Ellen Elia, who foisted Cash on BPS, are not inclined to take violations of test protocol lightly. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">What the Assistant Principal of Riverside told these teachers to do -- start correcting exams when close to 100 exams were still in the hands of students-- is illegal and violates the test protocols of NYSED. Any teacher dumb enough or careless enough to engage in such an act faces certain consequences, termination being chief among them. As a point of reference, a guy from another district in the program where I teach last June read exams to kids who did not have that test modification as part of their I.E.P. The day after he did this and it was discovered he was escorted out of the building, placed on leave and from what I have been able to deduce was terminated some time before this January. In less than 6 months he was toast for reading to kids who weren't supposed to have exams read. Yet Kriner Cash tucks his tongue firmly in his cheek and calls for the Riverside teachers to be fired because they didn't ask how how high when an administrator told them to jump. Told them to jump into breaking State Ed law no less. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">The fact that Riverside Assistant Principal Patrick J. Doyle ordered these teachers to break the law seems to have escaped Kriner Cash. He's got some kind of retro "Papa Knows Best" fixation on the 1950's concept that no matter what an authority figure tells you to do, you shut up and do it and ask questions later. Much later. Makes you wonder what Cash would've said to MLK in Birmingham Jail or Frederick Douglas when Edward Covey wound up to crack him with his bullwhip or to Harriet Tubman when she was rescuing runaway slaves from lives of brutality and desperation. Work now, grieve later? Do what you're told? Don't defy a direct order? I don't think so. I hope not. As one deeply indebted to the test fetishists of American Ed Reform, Kriner Cash has to be kidding when he says these teachers should have knowingly begun to correct state exams when nearly 100 other students were still taking them. It's a case of fired if you do and damned if you don't and he knows it. Yet he plays the doe eyed ingenue and you can almost hear him in a chicken fried Blanche Dubois drawl, sighing "Why they defied a duh-reckt oadaaahhh... and theh's naught fuh them but term-in-aaay-shun!" He might as well have said Damnation while he was at it. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Come on Dr. Cash. Cut with the coy theatrics and stand tall for a change. You know and we know any teacher who'd correct those papers before the rest of them were all turned in would be fired in the time it takes Lars Quinn to run out his jib sail. You and your reformy pals would have your Salem's Lot moment running around in a circle chanting about the sanctity of test protocol and let this be a lesson and this aggression will not stand, ad nauseam. And if the wind caught your flames just right you could all end up on MSNBC and CNN, you and Larry Quinn and Mary Ellen Elia and maybe John King his own little diabolical self would toss you a tweet or a video clip congratulating you for protecting the maidenhead of the test from those mongol teacher hordes with their coffee breath and lustfully sensible loafers. You'd have milked it for all you're worth and who knows but it might even catch the eye of a larger district looking for their Superman. I hear Pittsburgh's honeymoon with a hero is on the rocks... </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">But perish the luck some teachers forced into a bad situation had the wherewithal and the stones to refuse to be bullied into breaking the law and for that they were forced to twist in the wind for an entire school year wondering if their teaching career was finished. You need to end this farce and send these teachers a personal apology. And then you need to have a short but extremely focused meeting with Patrick J. Doyle, his supervising Principal on the day in question, their union rep and the H.R. chief. We'll trust you to do the right thing. Just don't take a year to do it. </span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08125018774502675730noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811638297838636919.post-4267138073588749602016-07-15T13:51:00.000-04:002016-07-15T23:33:57.660-04:00Badly Lynched Yet Well Hung. <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-size: large;">Was it last week that Carl Paladino's twitter account farted out that tweet about lynching Loretta Lynch then deleted it and came along with the rookie tweeter excuse for an explanation? Yeah I think it was last week. See it's hard to keep up with this guy. Between his damned Asians outburst aimed at the kids studying at UB and his plans to teach hygiene to inner city minorities in his boarding schools you get turned around and dis-oriented if you'll overlook the pun or better yet pretend it was unintentional.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Well Carl has now turned his attentions to his own party and is on record as telling Utah Republican convention delegate Stefani Williams in an email: </span><br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">"You should be hung [sic] for treason Stefani. There will not be a Republican Party if you attempt to replace Trump. I'll be in your face in Cleveland," Paladino allegedly wrote, according to an email that Williams shared with <a href="http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/287842-free-the-delegates-supporter-say-trump-ally-threatened">The Hill. </a></span></b><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">So this time it's a Carlfecta: suggestions of violence, follow up threat and a SIC to indicate that Carl has failed to follow the rules of English grammar.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">When the lynch Lynch tweet was deleted and carlsplained as the mistake of an underling there was no shortage of eye rolling and skepticism. Most who doubted the veracity of the rookie tweeter excuse pointed to Paladino's extensive history of inflammatory remarks on various topics. Carl likes to dismiss all of that as the politically correct nattering of screaming liberal meemies who can't handle his brand of the non p.c. "truth." </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Shouldn't a guy who's just wiped the remnants of the latest dogpile from his Florsheims --or at least tried to-- maybe try to avoid more talk of hanging or lynching women he doesn't like until the odor of his most recent misstep has had some time to dissipate? Yeah, you and I might think that but Carl doesn't see it that way. This is nothing more than the latest shining example of why CEO's fail so miserably when they endeavor to work within a system -- say one running the schools or one attached to a political party. Guys like Carl have said and done exactly as they pleased and been rewarded financially for doing so pretty much all of their lives. If someone pisses him off he can fire them. If someone writes something he doesn't like he can <a href="http://blogs.artvoice.com/avdaily/2014/09/24/carl-being-carl/">eviscerate them on the sidewalk outside Dinosaur BBQ.</a> If a reporter asks a question Carl doesn't want to answer on the way into a Board of Ed meeting, <a href="http://www.wgrz.com/news/paladino-launches-expletives/127958489">Carl unloads on him with a stream of obscenities.</a> In CEO land this kind of behavior is seen as bold and fearless, as some kind of alpha dog privilege and a sure sign of strong leadership. But in the larger world where the rest of us have to mind our manners as we fill in the gap between birth and eternity that kind of talk has consequences. It gets you fined and fired; it puts letters in your personnel file and<a href="http://www.buffalonews.com/city-region/1999-incident-ends-michels-bid-for-erie-countys-top-police-post-20160714"> it comes back to bite you in the ass when the County Executive tries to slide you into a sweet gig.</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">How then has none of this expansive disciplinary file affected the status of Carl Paladino as a member of the Buffalo Board of Education? What exactly does a board member have to say or do before anyone raises the question of his suitability to sit on a school board that makes decisions on what's best for children, especially a large population of minority children including a significant population of "Damned Asians?" At what point do we free Carl from the drudgery of budgeting and contract negotiations, of trying to put the screws to his business rival Ciminelli and of the humiliation of having to squeak out an election victory against an 18 year old kid in the belly of "Carl Country?" It's obvious Carl Paladino has bigger fish to fry. And with the incoming Board majority reducing his role and influence to that of a bit player who can strut and fret but won't accomplish anything more as a minority block member than he did in the majority, I think it's only fair that we accept his resignation and allow him to go make America Great Again. It's only fair. </span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08125018774502675730noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811638297838636919.post-67075296502485033342016-07-07T23:23:00.000-04:002016-07-07T23:28:59.060-04:00Good News Teachers, Hillary Clinton Has Your Back! No Really...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Well now that we've got all the platitudes and seats at the table Hillary could dig out of her AFT tote bag and fling off the back of the USS Pantsuit I feel my innate teacher cynicism approaching Diogenesian proportions. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">At NEApalooza Hill has publicly thrown down against those nasty money grubbing charter schools and all of the no goodniks who dare to profit on the backs of children unfortunate enough to be enrolled in these high stakes testing madrassas. But she's not against the good charters, you know those other ones that are nice to kids and pay teachers well and ummm, well, I mean, yeah -- those! Yeah she thinks those are swell! None of the teachers in the audience at NEA's farcical gala seemed to know what the hell she was talking about either but there were some teachers who booed her passive aggressive mention of "good charters." </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Color me amused too by the frantic tweets from BATs HQ desperately trying to distance themselves from anti Hillary chanting and cat calls. Word is they are looking into rebranding themselves PoliteAss Teachers. The one goddamned time these weenies should have raised holy hell with a mic check or an all out raucous call and response chant and what do they do? Squeak, squeak...</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">But </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">I hope </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">you all see how Hillary operates my dear pedagogues. It's the same exact bullshit she pulled here in New York when NYSUT handed her a mic and she promptly laid a big wet kiss on Andy Cuomo's arse. Here's how it works peasants: Your union "leadership" flings themselves at candidate Clinton with premature nominations that were nothing more than some shadowy cabal of bootlickers and hangers on voting Aye! on Weingarten and Lily's command. Rank and file are completely shut out of the process but are welcome to come hear the unindicted one's half hearted promises of better pay and teacher input on policy in a Clinton administration. But make no mistake plebians you are going to have your noses rubbed in the dirt before Hillary Clinton drops the mic (how Mulgrewesque). She did it at the NYSUT RA with that Cuomo is a great guy crack, then tried to browbeat the grumblers in the crowd with an imperious shrug and a Heyyyyyy, c'mon... At NEA's hoedown she plants a bit wet one on the charter lobby's arse. Think that wasn't intentional? Think it was some kind of Freudian slip? It was Hillary's own version of the dog whistle the other guys use when they want to make racial slurs. Except in this case Hillary is signaling all the dozing dogs of DFER and their compadres to say don't think my slumming with these dopes means anything. You are still my boys! </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">And forgive me again but I am going to commit a repeat blasphemy when I say I am really not losing any sleep chasing my fellows down to sign a petition that demands Hillary meet with Diane Ravitch. How can you not love Saint Diane? She can be a great asset and a powerful advocate. Problem is though she still thinks Randi Weingarten is a union firebrand while all of the sentient teachers I know who keep themselves informed know Wienie as a poser and an opportunist who could have taught General Dostum of Uzbekistan a few tricks about switching sides in the middle of a battle. It's as if DR still believes in Santa Claus and we are either unable to break through her denial or afraid the truth would devastate her. I saw this tweet the other day and bless her heart cause I know it's in the right place. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">But C'mon Diane, who are you directing this at? Me? Jim Horn? Kevin Glynn? Or any of the other disillusioned and battle hardened chalkboard grunts who know what's really going on? Is it intended to convince the hundreds of thousands of teacher Berniecrats whose voices were drowned out by Weingarten's Hillary endorsement that Randi is kind of like Bernie but with a worse haircut? Seriously, who is the target audience for this rhetorical spitball? I am baffled. What I am clear on though is Diane Ravitch's message is the same. Randi's great and Hillary's going to be great too just as soon as she sits down for a latte' with Diane Ravitch. It feels to this pedagogue like Diane Ravitch is trying to back door those of us who still haven't forgiven Weingarten for that phony endorsement by showing us Weingarten attempting to engage in some Bernie like anti-corporate activism. Forgive me if I don't buy it. Ravitch pumping up Randi Weingarten as a friend of the working schlub and showing us what a mensch she can be is like your mom telling you she's buying you Roebucks instead of Levi's cause they're just as good plus she can put them on her Sear's card. Thanks Mom, Love you. No, really I am going to wear them just not today...</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08125018774502675730noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811638297838636919.post-38437157250654022142016-07-04T09:41:00.001-04:002016-07-04T10:09:02.515-04:00He Came from Martha's Vineyard with a Banjo on His Knee<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">While I am loathe to do so I've cut and pasted a scraplet of what passes for wit at The Buffalo News these days. The Off Main St. column plants its forked tongue firmly in cheek and doles out what laugh monitors at The News deem to be side splitting out takes from the lives of elected, appointed and generally wealthy and/or influential players. I smell the Sorority House slapstick of Tiffany Lankes' unfunny touch wafting off this one like a teen ager who's bathed himself in Drakar Noir to cover the scent of the 9 India Pale Ales he swiped from Dad's basement fridge...</span><br />
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<i><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Boardroom dueling banjos</span></b></i><br />
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<i><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Certain Buffalo School Board members are known for standing up for their pet issues – and spending copious amounts of time at meetings pontificating about them on their soap boxes.</span></b></i><br />
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<i><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">It’s true for those on both sides of the divided board. And at last week’s meeting, Barbara Nevergold dominated the conversation with concerns about students who opted out of state standardized tests and were then, she argued, at a disadvantage in gaining admission to City Honors School. She has been raising the issue at board meetings for months.</span></b></i><br />
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<i><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Nevergold made her points early in the meeting and then wanted to raise the issue again when it came time for a vote on the consent agenda.</span></b></i><br />
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<i><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">A perplexed Superintendent Kriner Cash reminded her she already addressed the issue. Nevergold responded by saying she was entitled to bring it up again.</span></b></i><br />
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<i><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">“You are a one ... string ... banjo,” Cash told her.</span></b></i><br />
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<i><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Nevergold didn’t seem to mind the characterization. Instead, she owned it.</span></b></i><br />
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<i><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">“And I play it well.”</span></b></i><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">What's particularly irksome about the exchange between Dr. Nevergold and Superintendent Cash in my estimation is the way Cash appears hellbent on ignoring the point Nevergold has made and made again and made at the beginning of the meeting then reiterated before the vote. You can hear Tiffany Lankes whining that Nevergold <b>"dominated last week's meeting with conversation about concerns..." </b>The point being that a kid's refusal to participate in state enforced high stakes testing should not be used to exclude that kid from a criterion school such as City Honors. The district and in several cases I've been shown, the Principal of City Honors, have summarily excluded kids by adding zeroes in the application where the state test scores are listed. Test refusal alone is enough to drop any kid's score on their entry rubric out of competition. And since it's a competitive process kids who refuse state testing, which is their legal right, need to have some recourse on the entrance rubric other than acepting zeroes on tests Governor Cuomo his own damned self assured New York residents are "meaningless." Seems if they're meaningless as the self declared lobbyist for students has declared then they sure as hell shouldn't be used to keep kids out of City Honors should they? </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">But they are being used that way and they have been used that way and Nevergold is simply bringing up a topic a guy like Cash who's allied himself firmly with the so called ed reform movement does not want to hear. Remember how Cash got the job folks, he was foisted on us by NYSED Commissioner Elia another foot soldier and enforcer for the ed reform movement whose entire post teaching career has been a series of calculated moves within the tentacles of the so called reform network. These people live and die by high stakes testing. If it gets discredited and cast aside they lose their ability to engage in mass school closings and mass teacher firings. High stakes testing is to the ed reform crowd what a jack knife is to a boy scout. Without it all progress grinds to a halt. And here at a Board of Ed Meeting -- in the very place where a student advocate as Nevergold is attempting to advocate for students she is being blown off with a cornball phrase that sounds like it might have charmed them in Memphis and tickled their waspy sensibilities in Martha's Vineyard. Fact is Kriner Cash you're in Buffalo now, like the t shirt says, it's the City of No Illusions. And all of this just folksy "one string banjo" crap is not cutting it. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Until the district rectifies the illegal logjam they've created with using high stakes test scores as part of the golden ticket into City Honors, Kriner Cash should expect to hear nothing but this one banjo string over and over and over again. This isn't the Lions Club or the Kiwanis and you're not presiding over your college reunion pig roast with homespun charm and witticisms. You're fiddling while kids are being turned away from a unique learning experience they've earned a right to participate in. Don't the ed reformers love to crow about kids having "access to a great education?" Well it's time to lay off the banjo comments and get your access in gear Dr. Cash. I appreciate Dr. Nevergold's quick repartee but I seriously hope she isn't willing to settle for exchanging verbal thrusts and parries with this dude when bigger fish beg frying. Sooner or later someone's parents are going to go to court over this. Wouldn't it be a nice change if they didn't have to? </span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08125018774502675730noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811638297838636919.post-17793236348743121692016-07-01T21:30:00.005-04:002016-07-02T07:22:06.936-04:00Reform Majority's Season Finale of Failure -- Thar's Gold in them Thar City Halls<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">I hate to be the I told ya so guy but as predicted the last failed act of the so called Reform Majority has fizzled like a damp firecracker on the Fifth of July. The wealthy white men's lobby with the help of their bar tender and barmaid thought they could reach inside a legally binding labor contract and pluck the cosmetic rider out as if they were playing a game of "Operation" and the rider were some Funnybone or Wrenched Ankle. State Supreme Court Justice Tracey A. Bannister issued a temporary restraining order on this ill advised last attempt to claim an accomplishment after all the time they pissed away huffing and puffing, cussing out camera men, force feeding us Superintendents and hiring lawyers. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Speaking of ill advised, shouldn't Larry Quinn's young pal and campaign manager Eddie Betz have known with all of the legal acumen he's acquired in his vast law career that this dog wasn't gonna hunt? Maybe he should have advised Sir Lars, Carl and Sampson to just concentrate on throwing an ass kicking party when their term ended? After all Barrister Betz was <strike>annointed </strike> errr I mean appointed after the majority was able to rally their 5 votes and shitcan General Counsel Rashondra M. Martin declaring her to be incompetent. Never mind that Betz had squat for experience in school board law and no experience as district counsel either. When compromised political hack Steve Pigeon bullied disgraced and recently unrobed Judge Michalek into hiring Betz as a "receiver" Betz, who only graduated from Law School in 2012 didn't meet any of the criteria for the gig but Michalek said F it and gave him the job saying “We pushed it through anyway … have to give them a spec reason etc. will figure it out …" While this may seem silly to us lay folks the "receivership" gig can be pretty sweet: “Depending on the length and complexity of the litigation, a receivership can earn an attorney anywhere from a few thousand dollars to six figures,” one knowledgeable Buffalo attorney told The Buffalo News." </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">A few thousand to SIX figures... nice work if you can get it handed to you...</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Add to that the fact that Betz served as Lars Quinn's campaign manager in his run for the school board and that he also represented fellow "Reform Majority" mate McCarthy in another case and you have what some malingerers like to call a clear cut case of the Old Boy Network firing on all cylinders. As if all that wasn't enough of a bag over the head kick in the crotch already, consider the fact that B-Lo Superintendent Kriner Cash his own damned self weighed in and handed this connected white lawyer an extra $30K more than what the black woman whose job he took had been paid as district counsel. This coming from a guy who lived and died -- o.k. lets be honest, he lived high on the hog-- through merit pay bonuses as Superintendent of Schools in Martha's Vineyard. Maybe the fact that he evaluated himself for most of that time and go figure he never met a pay bonus he didn't earn if you asked him -- but that's another post. <a href="http://b-loedscene.blogspot.com/2015/08/why-didnt-board-offer-merit-pay-to.html">It's right here actually.</a> </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">So young Goodman Betz gets handed one sweet gig through the strings attached largesse of political cloak and daggerman Steve Pigeon and a judge whose robes are dragging in Pigeon shit and is handed yet another sweeter gig through the benevolence of the great Sabres dismantler Larry Quinn and his accomplices of the so called Reform Majority. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">Stop right there, take a little snapshot of all this corruption, connivance and fuckery and ask yourself if Larry Quinn should ever, repeat EVER let the word "Reform" escape his hyper Altoided piehole again. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">And forgive me cause I guess I am on a roll but who the hell appointed Kriner Cash the banker in this municipal game of Fuckopoly? He pushes for the hiring of young Betz who by all accounts is still suffering bar exam night sweats then flips the dude an extra $30K as a baksheesh for simply not being Rashondra Martin? What other merits did Cash divine in Sir Lars's campaign manager that added up to $30K? And am I the only idiot who noticed that the pay went up by $30K after it was taken away from an African American woman and handed to a connected white dude with jack for experience but a long list of cronies? </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">I hate to be that item in the punchbowl but it appears that Kriner Cash isn't the only one looking to fling bags of money at people who've proven underwhelming and unamazing in their performance. KC his own self was just awarded an extended contract and given some thousands to add to the famous FU money he told us he already had socked away when he got here. While The News tells us Nevergold and Belton Cottman said thumbs up publicly but blew Cash raspberries in private it didn't stop the Board from awarding Cash close to a Dean's list GPA and a 2.5% COLA on top of his quarter million plus $25K salary. Remember too my friends, when Kriner Cash was hired he too was handed an inexplicable $60K raise from what Pamela Brown was paid to do the same job. Do testicles somehow lead to pay raises in the administrative ranks of BPS? Is there something inherently low paying about having a uterus in this school district? In both cases Cash and Betz were handed an increase close to the salary of a 20 year teacher for no apparent reason other than an obvious Y chromosome, some facial hair and maybe a bow tie or two. Maybe Cash is treating people the way he likes to be treated. And hot damn if it isn't working. They call it the Golden Rule. And I can't think of too many people who dig gold better than Superintendent Kriner Cash. </span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08125018774502675730noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811638297838636919.post-54279571336202028842016-06-28T11:16:00.001-04:002016-06-28T11:28:10.004-04:00The Unbearable Lightness of Responsibility<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-size: large;">Teacher haters celebrate any time some clueless chalkboard grunt gets caught with their pants down or gets blown up for sending inappropriate messages over the internet. Any kind of teacher misstep where the person whose very career is predicated on being professional and appropriate from the minute he sets foot in his first classroom til the day the union prints his name in The Provocator and he hands the classroom keys off to some bright eyed pup who's going to change the world is cause for some ugly headlines. Our cut score is 100% professionalism at all times. It's expected. Society and the profession demand it. We kind of do too I think.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">When I wrote about the Buffalo teacher who was put on administrative leave after a student received a nude pic of him showing his face and his junk a few posts back I didn't pull any punches. Either you're a slimebag -- who sends minors entrusted to your care obscene pics of yourself or you're a total fucking moron. I will share that I was trolled in a comment I didn't publish by someone who asked how did I know the guy didn't leave his phone out and a student rifled through it and forwarded the offensive image without his knowledge? Nice try by a cheap seat Paul Cambria but I'm not buying it. If that's what happened-- and I seriously doubt it did-- I'll take total effing moron for $500, Alex. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The experience of teaching alongside one of these scumbags left me pretty damned cynical I'll admit. PJ, yes his real initials, came to my school under a cloud and we were all a bit leery of him after reading that he'd been accused by a number of kids in his previous school of behaving inappropriately with them. But he was a black guy coming to a South Buffalo school and who wanted to be tarred with that old brush right? Typical South Buffalo Irish Catholic racist bastards mistreating this poor guy who'd already been run through the ringer by his own scheming lying students! You could imagine the outrage and the uproar. So the guy was given a fair shake from what I saw and he used his greasy smarmy sociopathic charm and self deprecating humor to allay everyone's anxieties about the type of man he was. He had us believing he'd been railroaded by a gruesome little girls club of vindictive middle schoolers. We believed that right up until the troubled girl he'd been working on for months ran screaming down the hallway to the office after he tried to wrap his arms around her and slip her a grown up kiss in his classroom where he'd somehow managed to get her all by herself. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Now you wanna talk about the outrage and the uproar? We were kicking ourselves in shock and disgust at being duped by this creep. What a shitty feeling to get played for one yeah but the fact that a kid got hurt really, really stung. I recall how we all cringed to learn about the Superintendent a few years back who hired a known thief to work in the grants office even though he was explicitly told she had a history and could not be allowed to work anywhere funds were available to be filched. Her file had Keep 500 Feet Away from Funds scrawled across it in red lipstick but hey I guess she told him she'd changed. So, money went missing and girlfriend got hauled away and we were sadder but wiser but no kid got molested so it's a different type of regret, One you can almost live with on a relative scale. Just a case of stupid and some secondary gains on someone's part that most of us weren't privvy to. I mean he must have had his reasons right? </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">None of us wants a convicted thief sniffing around City Hall with an empty money bag. None of us wants to share a profession with the kind of dirtbag that thinks students are theirs for sexual poaching and flirtation. That's not who we are and it's not who we want to think of as our colleagues. God knows my name has never come up in a discussion of Top Ten Most Uptight Teachers. Once when teaching the jr. high behavior class I raised my voice for effect. Two people stopped by to ask if that was me laughing that they never knew I yelled or that I knew how to yell. I took it as a compliment. My point being even the most Jerry Garcia-esque among us is going to draw their line in the chalkdust and say This I will not accept. Being laid back doesn't mean you put up with perverts and pederasts among your ranks. When it comes to this kind of bullshit I think 100% of us might agree on this alone if nothing else. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Which brings me to my point, for lack of a better word. In the weeks since Orlando we've seen another uptick in the so called "gun debate" in this here U.S. of A. My camp-- who counts among its membership my high school classmate and former Army Ranger friend-- espouses the idea that AR-15s and their ilk were made for the explicit purpose of killing many people quickly and thus were created for the battlefield not the Cul de Sac or street corner. We are hearing quite a different refrain from that aggrieved and put upon demographic self described online and in the media as "responsible gun owners." This oppressed minority feels their very way of life is under attack by misguided liberals and sentimentalists. RGO's will insist that it could just have as easily have been a Ford Escort or a fertilizer packed Ryder truck that wiped out all those first graders in Newtown. Cause if you want to kill someone you will find a way. The very idea that restricting semi automatic rifles to keep them out of murderously insane hands of people who'd kill children strikes at the very core of the Ammosexual Manifesto. The fact that a twisted little nameless turd was able to get his hands on that type of killing machine -- it belonged to his mommy, a <a href="http://www.prepperwebsite.com/">"prepper"</a> and the first of his victims that day -- and use it on someone's 5 year old 2 weeks before Christmas doesn't seem to sink in with the gun crowd the way creepy PJ trying to french kiss a 13 year old sunk in with me and my colleagues. Don't you gunnies want to think of yourselves as decent, responsible folk who care about your fellows? Isn't there some deep need among ya'll to distance yourselves at least perception wise from the guy at Virginia Tech or the Aurora movie house or Newtown? Don't you want to step aside and say that's not us man, we don't approve of this shit? But in so doing you'd have to relinquish your toys, the really fun noisy ones that get your motor running like nothing else in your world does. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Or am I missing some deeper point here? Do so called RGO's honestly believe their right to possess a weapon designed for battlefield use where it can kill many people quickly is more important than the life of someone's 5 year old who went to school that day without a thought in the world of being ripped apart by semi automatic rounds in a classroom? How exactly does one say Hey I am sorry this weapon is being used on moviegoers and first graders who are defenseless victims but don't think for a second that I am going to step up and agree that maybe I will be ok with just my shotgun and my .38? How exactly does one justify the availability of these weapons in the wake of nearly 1000 mass shootings since Newtown without ever once wondering if maybe they don't want to be part of this group any longer? </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">I wrack my brain to come up with a reasonable comparison of something in my own life that I could cling to with the blind, emotionless resolve I see the among the so called RGO crowd any time someone suggests civilians should not be walking around with these goddamned guns. I draw a blank. Take my 8 cylinder SUV, my coffee pot, my ipad and my baseball bats. Take all of it I can't see if any of them were used repeatedly to murder small and large groups of fellow Americans how I would be willing to say "Hey, wait a minute here folks, I have my rights..."</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">But they do exactly that. Shooting after shooting after shooting. Save your thought and prayers next time, cause we all know the next one is coming. Instead of thoughts and prayers go take a long look in the mirror and ask yourself whose loved one's life is less important than your right to own a battlefield weapon. Then send them a card with your thoughts and prayers on it. I'm sure they'll be touched. </span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08125018774502675730noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811638297838636919.post-24561992067011570362016-06-23T09:20:00.001-04:002016-06-23T10:06:05.086-04:00Last Day of School: The Old and The New<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-size: large;">Happy last day of school my fellow pedagogues. Note that your last day is a full day with students. Why do I bring this up? Because I am a shiftless corner cutter and a slacker who'd rather be shopping on my iphone than interacting with someone else's icky spawn. I think that's how we were portrayed in the Ed Reform box office floater Won't Back Down. O.k. I do remember once upon a time in the pre-James Williams era when teachers were valued at least on an even par with used car salesmen and meth dealers, the last day was a non attendance day for kids and teachers used the morning to wrap up paperwork and edit the graduation list if someone hadn't turned in their grades on time (Fred Sales Award at SPHS). It was strangely enough a busy morning because you only had the morning to get everything wrapped up. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Once the place was declared ready for shut down someone would get on the P.A. and direct us to whatever local eatery we'd agreed on for lunch. About the time coffee and pie were coming around -- or more pitchers of draft depending on whose table you were at -- El Jefe would thank us all for a great year even if it wasn't and with a wink and a nod we'd be told to adjourn to work on September's lesson plans. And that was it. End of the year, adios, don't forget your sunscreen and if you're teaching summer school I'll see you on the 5th. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Honestly, it was a good feeling. Even working with Principals you didn't really love, there was still some strange sense of thanks and respect at the end of it all. So she didn't suspend Darren Beasley for pissing in your waste basket and maybe you got some snarky comment stuck on a post it across your lesson plan book that you handed in 3 weeks late. By the last day it was all good and summer was spread out before us like a deep blue pond on a hot sweaty afternoon. You felt pretty damned good and you were surrounded by people who felt the same way. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">But somewhere in the ed reform plague of the past dozen years or so it all went away. There would be no kidless last day of school. Kids would be expected to attend as far into the calendar as possible. And even though exams were done and corrected and everyone knew it, you'd be expected to put on some kind of magic show or entertainment for the anti climactic week where nothing counted for a grade and if I'm not getting a grade why should I do it? There would be no such luncheon near school and there would certainly not be any wink and a nod to an early quit for the profession that's become the go to chew toy and whipping boy of every sniveling politician and corporate union busting scum under the sun. No, you teachers are staying in the mine and shoveling coal until that whistle blows because we all know you barely do any work anyway. That's the mindset we currently operate under and if you doubt it you can check the minutes of last night's board meeting where Sir Lars of Quinnhamshire tried desperately to tie teacher health care costs to the general demise of American Civilization as a whole. Honestly I can't be bothered to go source his gibberish but rest assured he'd like us all to have a box of band aids, a roll of white tape and a quarter to call 911 for our health care plan. Cosmetic riders are for folk like Larry and his schooner friends not for lowly school teachers don't you know? </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">And when you talk to teachers it's funny how few of them really grumble about this de-evolution of our final day. One of my colleagues came and asked me if I'd like to go in on pizza and wings for the kids who show tomorrow. I see people handing out silly coloring sheets, showing movies, doing puzzles, painting little wooden fish for the big blue wall in the lobby. There is really no bitching and the atmosphere is light. Maybe too many of us don't remember how last days used to be. I do though and the old way was a world better. When I was a union laborer in Denver Local 720 we'd have topping off parties when a particular phase of the job was completed. Nobody felt guilty knocking off early and having a few with some pizza for a job well done. It's kind of a shame guys pouring concrete can still enjoy a little feel good time for their hard work but those of us entrusted with the young minds of American youth somehow know better than to think we deserve any such breather.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">For better or worse this is where we once were and where we are now. It's been a great year and a pleasure working with you. See you July 5th. Peace</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08125018774502675730noreply@blogger.com1